


A New Overlord in Town

by Twisted_Fate_MK2



Category: Overlord (Triumph Video Games), RWBY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-06-24 00:33:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 39
Words: 211,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19712689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twisted_Fate_MK2/pseuds/Twisted_Fate_MK2
Summary: Ten thousand years, the Tower has lain without an Overlord. Ten millennia, the world had known relative peace, aside from the random creatures of Grimm wandering the land and a few other lesser evils, like Salem. Ten thousand years of waiting for a new Overlord to come, and bathe the world in true darkness. Ten thousand years of... Absolute boredom driving Gnarl mad!





	1. Chapter 1

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Official Supporters: 

Grand Priestess, Luna Haile -

High Priest, Alvelvnor

Priest, The Impossible Muffin, Priest, Xager the Chaos King 

Acolyte, DigiDemonLord, Acolyte, Stonecold, Acolyte, Espacole

Initiate, Final Heaven 63, Initiate, Greg Gibson

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM one of us for details or join our discord. Server ,.for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, and remember to post a Review/Comment to let me know what you liked and didn’t. 

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Betas for This Chapter : 

XxX----XxX----XxX

Jaune groaned quietly as he woke finally, flinching in expectation of agony and pain that never came. After a second, he relaxed and noticed a great many things all in the same moment.

First was where he happened to be laying. Rather than on the ground below the bridge he last remembered fighting on and being hurled bodily off of by a might blow of the massive Deathstalker's claws shattering the stone under him and leaving him to plummet into the canyon. Instead of whatever was down there below the ruined bridge at the cliff's edge, he felt a comfortable mattress under him. Not lumpy, but soft as down and warm underneath him. It was the most comfortable thing he'd ever felt in his entire lifetime. Easily. Better even than that hotel in Vale's own mattresses, which were the previous holder of the 'most comfortable place for Jaune's back' award.

Then he felt a warm weight on his chest shift and heard a distinctly feminine and distinctly relaxed something sigh in contentment and went incredibly still where he lay. He blinked in surprise when he felt plump, full, and very concerningly bare breasts pressed against his equally bare side and on top of them as the large mounds molded against him along with an odd sensation of resignation and acceptance.

Which were odd emotions for Jaune to be feeling with a naked woman in bed with him, he was sure. Jaune had never been with a woman, obviously to many he was certain, so being in bed with a naked one should have brought very different feelings to him.

Curious, he looked down at an incredibly beautiful sleeping woman with long, dark hair, who he didn't recognize in the slightest. He had his right arm around her shoulders and his left on his stomach. She shifted again, nuzzling against his muscled chest above the blankets, and he noticed her pointed ears with some mild curiosity. But when she shifted yet again, her blanket falling from her chest and letting him see the very 'assets' pressed against his side, he couldn't bring himself to care about her ears.

But he pulled his attention away from her still, feeling an odd pull to look at his forearm, where an odd weight was resting. When he raised it to get a look, he felt pride and greed course through him with a strange burning sensation, not of his own accord in either case, at what he saw. The emotions welled up all on their own, as naturally as breathing, when he looked at what his arm bore.

His hand was armored, cased in a heavy black gauntlet with a fiery orange gem encased in it just behind the hand, fur under it and what felt like leather beyond. He clenched his fist and its glow smoldered satisfyingly before he felt the woman stir beside him, looking to her sleepy but surprisingly excited blue eyes for a moment.  
She smiled, opening her mouth to speak and pulling herself closer against him and up his chest, and Jaune's sight failed.

XxX----XxX----XxX

This time, when he awoke, the mattress he lay on was lumpy and uncomfortable, and only a thin blanket protected him from the chilly air around him. When he moved his left arm, he felt pain lance up it, but he had to see it. Had to see what he felt there. Something deep down inside of him drove him to see the source of the weight he felt there. Like a maddening itch at the back of his mind that wouldn't calm until he saw the same plated gauntlet as in his dream there, glowing faintly in the armor piece. An itching ache that forced him to see its source, draw him to it inexorably, to the gem set into it particularly.

Well, not exactly the same, he noticed after a moment of looking and a blink to clear the sleep from his eyes.

The fur had been removed entirely, and the armor itself was slimmer and lighter looking than the one in his dreams had been. Smoother, too, lacking the harsh and jagged spikes of the other, aside from the pointed tips of his fingers that were sharp enough he felt reasonably certain could cut as easily as Crocea Mors and the small spikes on the knuckles, hardened tips that just looked vicious enough to maim.

As it was here and now, it looked a lot like a normal plated gauntlet, aside from the gem embedded into the metal and glowing faintly. Not quite of course, with the pointed tips and the claws on the fingers, but pretty damn close.

With those things, he'd be able to rip into Grimm hide and rip into metal easily, though how he knew that he didn't know for sure. It felt like an instinct, almost, a simple sense that his mind and body acknowledged that the gauntlet could rip and tear easily. The same way he knew when he took a step, his legs would move and the muscles and bones would shift to take his weight.

He turned his hand, looking at his palm and saw fine and dark, stitched leather there, smooth like the richest kinds of leather, usually made of fox or rabbit, that he had seen around Ansel on occasion. When he clenched and unclenched his fist, it moved as naturally as his own flesh and blood, and he could swear he could feel through it. He regarded it for a moment, wondering what on Remnant it really was, before letting his arm drop to his side with a muted thump.

He forced his head to turn in spite of the discomfort the action elicited, a dull ache and throb he ignored while looking around the empty room and taking in his surroundings.

The room itself was wide and taller than the room he had in Ansel almost by half, a massive window with a balcony outside of it open and letting in a chilly breeze, but no light came in. It was dark outside, he guessed by the chill wind and lack of light, and the hearth beside the opening and between it and the door was empty as the room itself was.

The structure itself was made of stone brickwork along the walls, aside from the exterior ones and the roof, which seemed to be solid and smooth, natural stone like what he'd seen pictures of from the fancier, more expensive manors and mansions in Atlas and Mistral. Hence the chill, probably, he thought with a touch of bitterness. Mostly from how sore he was, pain radiating across his body in waves in time with his heartbeat as he shifted.

Which was odd, considering they seemed to be high up, judging from the uninterrupted view of the sky outside.  
He coughed, his throat sore and dry and throbbing with faint pain he didn't quite know the source of, and forced out a weak, "H-Hello?"

It only took a second for his ears to pick out the pattering of bare feet on stone at his call, the building he was in otherwise silent as the grave. It stopped by his door and he heard a quiet but distinct rustling of cloth, before… something about the height of his knees stepped into the room, with dark skin and wispy hairs on its eyebrows and chin, wearing torn robes and with an odd glowing crystal hanging from a stick on its bowed back.

He watched, mouth agape in surprise at the creature's sudden appearance, as the creature approached slowly until it was beside his shoulders near the head of the bed, as though worried about frightening him, and held out a small red flask shaped like a tear drop and about the size of his hand and already opened, "Drink this, Dark Lord. It will make you feel better."

He looked at it, and then the creature, worry and fear clear on his face. "W-Who…?"  
He choked and swallowed painfully, and the creature gestured with the small flask again, Jaune grimacing and taking it after a second more of hesitating. Normally, he wouldn't just drink something like this, but his throat felt like raw sandpaper…

"I am Gnarl, a Minion, living here in this Tower." He said quietly, looking at the flask with his eyes and nodding towards it, "This is medicine and beverage both, I made it special for you a short while ago, Master. Drink it, and we can talk, without you gasping like a fish every couple words. If I wanted you dead, I would have left in the chasm where I and the other Minions found your… Well, you."

When he downed it, the drink left behind a tingling numbness, with a hint of honey flavor that warmed Jaune from his core outward. Like hot chocolate, but tasting of honey and sugar and something else he couldn't place but enjoyed nonetheless. When he finished the drink, the warmth started to seep out of the glass, quicker than normal.

The medicine itself seemed to take effect quickly, the pain in his body vanishing within a minute, and Jaune couldn't help but smile in surprise at it, "Wow… I've never had medicine like that."

"A potion, actually, Lordship." Gnarl offered helpfully, taking the flask from him when he offered it and regarding the small glass container with an uncaring expression, before casually flinging it behind him and out the door where Jaune heard it shatter, "Someone will clean that up, forget about it. Anyways, that was a potion. It interacts with any body which has Mana naturally flowing through it, and mends wounds."

"Mana?"

"Yes, Mana." Jaune shifted uncomfortably after a second of silence, and Gnarly blinked as he realized with a nervous laugh, "Ah, uh, you wanted an explanation about it, I assume? Well, Mana is the energy within a person which allows them to use Magic spells and items." He reached out to tap a finger on his armored gauntlet, "Like this. An item only an Overlord can wear."

"That sounds like Aura..." Jaune asked, raising his arm to look at the faintly glowing gem again. "What's an Overlord?"

"Please, great and mighty Overlord, don't compare true Magic to… To that weak, watered down tripe Humans managed to figure out after centuries of dying and fighting monsters with sticks!" He sighed, taking a deep breath and shaking his small, bearded head. "An Overlord is… Well, honestly, it's kind of complicated. Most simply put, it's the one person who rules over my species, the Minions. For whatever ends they want, but especially the evil ones."

"Evil, as in…?"

"Conquering empires, razing villages, enslaving peasants, raping women. Or men, no judgement here if that's your preference, my Master." Gnarl rattled off, smiling whimsically at the idea before sighing.

"It sounds awful…"

"Ah, but those were the good old days, Lord, ravaging the lands and doing as we pleased under our beloved Overlord's thumb… Truly, the best of times." The Minion sighed again, shaking himself out of his reverie, "Of course, you don't have to do any of that. For now, just worry about repairing the Tower, Sire. You can decide what you want to burn down or protect," he practically spat the word protect, and Jaune knew his opinion just from that, "then, and the Minions will follow you eagerly. But first, a tour! A must have for every new Overlord's induction phase." 

Gnarl turned to head for the hallways, and Jaune made to follow quickly, two of his strides easily catching the smaller creature even with his head start. "This isn't actually the Tower, Master, it's a reconstruction. The original Tower was destroyed, its Heart saved and moved to a new location. Also, destroyed. Then moved again when the new Tower fell. And again, not three months later."

"It... Gets destroyed a lot." Jaune observed as they descended the spiral staircase.

"Yes, the perils of being an evil Overlord and leading an army of evil to conquer the known and unknown places of the world, I'm afraid. What can an evil creature do, eh?" Gnarl sighed uncaringly, Jaune shaking his head disbelievingly about how little the Minion seemed to care about losing his home. "Ah, this is the Throne Room. Please ignore the dirt, dust, rubble and corpses, Master, we are… Renovating."

The Throne Room was round and large, about the size of the auditorium he'd slept in at Beacon. A dirty pool with a fallen pillar resting in it sat at the far end, open to the air judging from the stars Jaune could see and cold as well from the snow that fell slowly outside, and with two small doors to either side that Gnarl said were stairs leading out of the Tower by descending all the way through the Tower uninterrupted until they opened out into a courtyard. A dozen small brown creatures like Gnarl waded in the water and climbed on the pillar itself, floundering and trying to remove the pillar by dragging it towards the window and jumping on it.

"Wait-" He started, before they managed to nudge it over and it tumbled away with at least five of them still holding on. The others ran to the edge, and Jaune heard it smash on the ground far below, and the Minions cheered happily at the apparently satisfactory success, "Those Minions just got killed…"

"They are Minions, Master." Gnarl observed simply, Jaune looking at him. He raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "They… tend to die. A lot. It's their job, dying for you. It's ranked just under 'killing for you' in terms of frequency and just above 'carrying your stuff around when you can't be bothered to.'"

"That's kind of depressing." Jaune said, Gnarl shrugging. He gestured with his armored hand at the window, "Should we… Have a funeral, or something?"

"Lord, if we did that every time a Minion lost its pathetic little life, we'd spend every day on them." Gnarl sighed, watching one of the Minions hop onto the balcony railing and lean over to look at the mess below. The piece of stone cracked, and it shrieked as it fell away, "Ugh, see, Lord? You send ten to fetch your meal, and only eight will return! Best to just let them go when they go and move on."

"I guess." Jaune grimaced, shaking his head, "Just seems a bit…"

"Evil?" Gnarl suggested, chuckling when Jaune nodded after a second. He chuckled low in his throat and turned, "Yes, Lord, well… That's kind of the point in case you had missed it. Now, let us move on, shall we?"

Two large, arched doors big enough for three mean to pass through breast and tall as two of them at their highest were on either side of the Throne Room's entryway, between the pool and the main area of the Throne Room where the actual throne sat. According to Gnarl, one led to the forges and the other to the Hives, where Minions were born. Only Browns for now, which he promised to explain later.

At the back of the entryway, with Crocea Mors leaning against the throne itself, the throne sat. Raised up by several feet on a high platform with unlit and damaged round braziers to either side, four spikes on one and three on the other with one broken off and lying beside it on the floor. The throne was carved of dark stone slabs and roughly done so, a solid chair of rock sitting on the dais with a thin, probably useless pillow on it and pressed against the back wall and depressed into it a few feet. The curved wall it was set into was smooth and unornamented dark stone. Ten small steps led up the semicircle of the platform, radiating out from the wall.

"That is the Throne, Master." Gnarl explained, Jaune nodding with a sarcastic look on his face. Gnarl noticed and shook his head, "It's more than just a chair, Master. It is a Throne. When you sit upon it, the Tower Heart synchronises with your own, suffusing you with Mana and healing your wounds. That's not all it can do either, if all the… facilities were functioning, it could do much, much more."

"Like what?" He asked, stepping up the steps towards the Throne with Gnarl on his heels. The seat was large enough for him to sit comfortably, at least it looked like it. It almost looked made for him, the sizing was different from normal furniture and made to fit a specific height. His height. "You had me masured?"

"Of course." He nodded, smiling widely, "While we sedated you, dragged you through the Tower to your bed, and then set all of your bones."

"I was that bad?" He asked quietly, grimacing at the idea and turning to sit on the Throne. Gnarl nodded, but chose to stay quiet, and Jaune continued, "I need to get back to Beacon, Gnarl. I have classes to get to, studies, if I want to help people. A Huntsman needs to be trained properly to do his job."

"Master, if I may… Speak freely?" Jaune nodded, gesturing with the gauntleted hand in a waving motion instinctively, and Gnarl's eyes seemed to follow the armored hand with an oddly keen interest. Swallowing, he straightened as much as his crooked back would allow, and spoke, "Well, Master, I don't think that going back to that place will serve your desires better than being here, and ruling as Overlord."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, Master, I understand what you want. Even if I don't want it, you want to be able to protect people and to save them." Jaune nodded, and Gnarl smiled knowingly, "Well, what is it a person needs to be able to protect people?"

"Strength and training." Jaune answered quickly, Gnarl's smile only growing as he nodded.  
"Yes, Master! Strength, and the training to use it." He bowed his head, presenting himself prostrate for the Overlord on his throne, "I am Gnarl, Master. Oldest and wisest of the Minions, and your most humble of servants."

"And, should you allow it, your teacher in arts arcane and twisted enough that even these base creatures called Grimm fear them. Fire, Lightning, Ice, and weapons unlike any other are yours but to take from where they rest. And an army as well, to help you do the taking." Gnarl looked up at the end of that, smiling viciously, "Minions are experts in ripping, tearing, maiming, and ying, Master. And all of that is useful for defending useless peasants you wish to rule."

"But I don't want to rule." Jaune argued, Gnarl sighing and shaking his head as he straightened.

"All due respect, Master, but bullshit." Jaune blinked in surprise at the Minion's tone, and the creature hurried to explain. "The Tower Heart would not have chosen you if you were neither evil nor ambitious. If you didn't wish to destroy or rule, you would be a stinking corpse by now, lying in a canyon or in a hole in the ground. That's just the way the Heart works."

"But…" Jaune shook his head, trying to find the right words to argue with the Minions', and then looked to his gauntlet with a small grimace. The stone seemed to glow dimly, warmth seeping through the gauntlet and into him with a reassuring familiarity. He returned his eyes to Gnarl's, "I'm not a ruler, like the kings I used to read about. I don't want to be... To be a tyrant."

"Why not?" Gnarl asked, Jaune's eyes narrowing at the frank question as the Minion straightened, rubbing its back with a hand and grumbling… 

“Getting too old for grovelling, maybe Jester should do it for me… Anyways, why not be a tyrant? There's no rules saying that you can't be the biggest tyrant in history, and not be a swell guy. And even if there were, You're the Overlord! Breaking rules is the nature of every bone in your evil body! Why, I would bet good Minions that you've broken a few laws already."

Jaune couldn't argue there… He'd stolen Crocea Mors, bought fake papers, lied on enrollment forms for a Huntsman Academy, and illegally had his Aura activated. Even if that kind of tied into the one before it, it was still a separate law. Multiple felonies, multiple things people called immoral…

But what if they'd worked and he'd saved lives? Would that have vindicated what he'd done? Made the immoral moral in its success at helping people?

"I… I guess that it wouldn't hurt to stick around and learn how to fight, at least." He pointed an armored finger at him and the Minion shrunk in on itself deferentially, "But I'm only thinking about it. You understand, Gnarl?"

"Of course, Lord." Gnarl said, inclining his head politely and serviley, "Whatever your heart desires, my most evil Master. So long as you are our Overlord, you have our absolute loyalty to the very last of our days. Now then, that dealt with, shall we begin restoring your Tower?"

Jaune couldn't help the smile that grew at that wording, feeling his ego burn inside him as he reclined against the stone seat and drummed armored fingertips on the stone arm, "Let's see about getting my room fixed up? And I need to know where on Remnant I actually am."

"The northern continent, Lordship." Gnarl answered simply, shrugging, "Afraid I don't know the name. I tried asking some of the soldiers while they were ransacking the old Tower, about eight thousand years and change ago, but they weren't very helpful. Unless you think 'Die you gangly shit' is the name of the continent? Or maybe 'Aaah, my leg, quit biting my leg? Jester got me that one, I… don't think it's right either."

"Mantel." Jaune offered, Gnarl raising an eyebrow at him. Shrugging, Jaune explained, "The northern continent's name is Mantel. As far as I know, that includes the arctic circle. The land and ice over it, at least."

"Well, there you go, Lord. Glad we could figure that out, it surely would have been impossible without my aid." Jaune raised his eyebrow, but Gnarl turned away with a wave of his hands, "Now, now, no need to thank me. I live to serve, My Lord. Anyways, we've much to do, so let's get to it shall we?”

XxX----XxX----XxX

So I am beginning work, when idle and bored, on translating this over. It will take some time, however, as posting too many chapters in a single day will get me potentially marked for spam.


	2. Chapter 2

XxX----XxX----XxX

Official Supporters: 

Grand Priestess, Luna Haile -

High Priest, Alvelvnor

Priest, The Impossible Muffin, Priest, Xager the Chaos King 

Acolyte, DigiDemonLord, Acolyte, Stonecold, Acolyte, Espacole

Initiate, Final Heaven 63, Initiate, Greg Gibson

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM one of us for details or join our discord. Server ,.for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, and remember to post a Review/Comment to let me know what you liked and didn’t. 

So, Fanfiction will not let me link to discord. So, I apologize to every single FF reader for this, but please PM me for a join link. And please consider doing so, I enjoy chatting with you lot. On AO3, the link is viable : https://discord.gg/2UZncAm

If I could trick FF into thinking this is not a link here it is (delete the spaces and turn):  
D iscord . gg (slash) kfhkfUb

Betas for This Chapter : 

XxX----XxX----XxX

Jaune's gauntlet came up and slammed down on the piece of rubble blocking hallway, cleaving into the stone and embedding deep into it. Behind him, Gnarl practically cooed supportingly, even if the sound was more a creepy rasp that set Jaune's hairs on end. "Good, Master. Now, as I showed you, channel the Heart's mana through you and then through the gauntlet."

Jaune followed the instructions and calling for the Heart's power, feeling the familiar rush of power surging into and through him, coiling first in his stomach like hot, weighty ropes of metal before surging throughout his chest and then down his left arm, coalescing in his hand like fire. With a grunt of effort and a small glow in his eyes, he expended the energy in a small radius around his hand. The stone cracked from the force, a myriad of cracks spider webbing out from the hole he'd punched, but didn't shatter outright. Twice more he summoned the mana to him and through him, the addictive rush of warm power coursing through him and down his arm again until the myriad cracks finally spread throughout the stone's center and, with a wrench of his arm and a loud cracking sound, he tore the pieces in half.

"There." He grunted, using the gauntlet to shove the dark slate apart and stepping back while Browns swarmed it, hauling smaller pieces away while they 'coordinated' their efforts to move the massive stones. Sweating from the effort of manipulating the raw energy, but smiling from his success in doing so, he turned to Gnarl sitting on a small stone behind him, "Now what?"

"Honestly, Lord, do you not ever rest? You're the Overlord, you're allowed to bloody relax, you know." Gnarl sighed, scratching at his beard idly and grimacing, "Your amount of activity is exhausting… I miss the last Overlord, always lazing about with his women, relaxing, letting us have our fun in the villages he owned… Truly, an enjoyable service to live in."

"Didn't he… You know, get himself killed in the end?" Jaune asked, crossing his arms over a bare chest and raising an eyebrow at the Minion. After a second he added, in half apology, "No offence."

"I didn't say he was a smart Overlord, your lordship. I only said he was fun to serve, whether or not it ended up with his empty head on a pike." Gnarl drawled, shrugging at the apology without much care for the insult to the original Overlord. Or, well, the one before Jaune at the very least. "As for what we could do, well, that is quite a list. The Minions are, frankly, busy on cleanup and removing the rubble, bones, and other assorted trash from your new Tower. So whatever you wish to do, you will only have five Minions on hand and your own hands to do it."

"That's not a lot..." Jaune grumbled, grimacing at the idea. Gnarl gave him a disparaging look, and he added half-embarrassedly, "I was hoping to have you guys around to, you know, help out.

Even with his limited ability to use Mana offensively, mostly the burst he had been using to break up rubble for the last week after Gnarl taught it to him, he wasn't exactly well armed or armored. Aside from his Gauntlet and Crocea Mors he had nothing here that he knew of. It didn't exactly leave him feeling confident in his chances, especially after the blow that was Initiation and his fight against the Deathstalker.

Okay, so maybe calling 'getting backhanded off a cliff and falling to your death' a fight was a bit dishonest.

"Yes, well, Lord, you have elected not to conquer and pillage. So our ability to spawn more Minions is limited, unless you change your mind of course?" Jaune noticed the hopeful edge to his tone and shook his head, the old Minion sighing, "Worth asking anyways… As I was saying, we've no beasts to sacrificing Minion essence, or Grimm to do it either. Unless you want to go seal clubbing-"

"Excuse me?" Jaune gasped out, blinking in surprise. "Did you actually… Seal clubbing? Really? Seal clubbing?"

"Oh yes, Master, we Minions quite enjoy crushing the cute little bugs under a good, solid club." Gnarl rolled his eyes when Jaune gave him a mildly disgusted look, leaning away from the old Minion. "Minions dislike cute things quite a bit, Lord. Well, if you ignore how delightful they are to smash, and toss, and maim…" He caught Jaune's unimpressed face and sighed, "It is our nature, Majesty. Don't fault us for it, not when we deny it on your whim."

"I guess…" Jaune sighed, awkwardly turning to watch the Minions hauling away slabs of stone. "Would be kind of, you know, rude to get upset over that when you're not even doing anything."

"Yes, quite rude." Gnarl agreed, blinking when Jaune turned to give him a disbelieving look, the small creature rolling its eyes after a second. "What? I'm an evil minion, created by unknowable and unknown dark powers eons ago, to exist in perpetual servitude to Overlord's in pursuit of their evil and nefarious desires. That doesn't mean I'm okay with people being rude, Lordship."

"Yeah, who would think an evil creature would be rude" Jaune sighed, Gnarl nodding happily, as though glad to have Jaune accept the fool proof logic. Moving on, Jaune decided to let it go, the headache wasn't quite worth it. "There's a lot of holes and stuff."

"Yes, Master." Gnarl agreed, nodding and looking along the hall. Large portions of wall were missing their brickwork, either where the stonework had fallen away or just where chunks of the natural stone it had been laid against had fallen away like the one he'd had to break apart only a short while ago. "Time has ravaged our home, I am afraid, even the parts you can't reach at your size look this way. The Minions will clean away the rubble, but the work itself requires more skilled hands, and more materials for them."

"And where would we get those?" He asked, Gnarl humming in thought.

"Well, the Heart shaped the tunnels of slate when the previous Overlord planted it here. The term is kind of weak, but that's all I can say on it, so don't ask." He rushed to add when Jaune's mouth opened, a curious look on his face. "We used nearby quarriable slate, much harder stone than here, for the brickwork and the furniture and so on."

"Can we use it?" He asked, Gnarl grimacing in a way that made Jaune nervous. "I don't like that look."

"Well, Sire, slate is difficult to work with in a lot of cases. It can be very flakey, and chip away with pressure when made into a brick like we need for construction, if the stone isn't quality enough." Gnarl explained, Jaune nodding at the end when the Minion finished. "Unfortunately, the quarry we used is… Under new management, I'm afraid. Of the 'stick up our ass so far that our head doesn't quite turn right' persuasion."

"Atlas?" Jaune asked, learning by now how to understand the aged Minion. Gnarl nodded, and Jaune sighed, "Of course, this is their continent after all, so it makes sense. And we don't have anything we can give them for the stone?"

"Not for the quantity we need, aside from the reaction of the soldiers and workers when they deliver it to an abandoned looking tower full of four foot tall creatures they don't know about." Gnarl droned, Jaune grimacing and shaking his head. "They'd probably get a bit stabby, and we don't like stabby unless we're being stabby."

"Then what can we do?" Gnarl smiled and opened his mouth and Jaune added, "That isn't raiding, looting or anything like that. So just… Don't."

"Well, Lord," Gnarl sat back on the rock he was sitting on,stroking his beard idly and thinking. "I have an idea, but one which I doubt you'll like."

"I bet." He sighed, "Well, what is it?"

"Perhaps we should head to the throne room for this, Sire? As you are making a decision which guides the fate of the Tower." Gnarl shrugged and hopped up off the rock, a couple Minions nearby plucking it from the floor to tote it away. Jaune sighed, and Gnarl explained, "These are important decisions, Master. You need an important chair to sit in when you make important decisions. All the best leaders have important chairs to sit in."

"If you say so." Jaune shrugged, following the short creature through the hall, dodging the dozens of Minions working, jeering, and generally being a nuisance. They poked,propped, hurled rocks at each other, and more until they caught his gaze and got to work more animatedly and purposefully with a cheerful 'for the Overlord'. "These guys aren't exactly very good workers…"

"They'll do the job." Gnarl assured over his shoulder,plucking a small rock from the floor and chucking it at a sleeping Minion's head with a sigh. "If it bothers you, try stabbing a few. Nothing motivates a workforce like a good, solid, and preferably messy stabbing."

"I am not stabbing any of my workers, Gnarl. Please, stop asking." The small, aged Minion chuckled to himself as Jaune followed him and Jaune groaned. The two stayed in an odd silence,caught between comfortable and awkward, as they walked through the winding tunnels that always curved to the right back towards the Throne Room and Jaune started to think, "You know, I kind of wonder how everyone at Beacon is dealing with my disappearance."

"Death, actually, Sire." Gnarl corrected as they entered the Throne Room itself, Jaune flinching as he rounded the corner and giving the back of the Minion's head a shocked look. "I found your corpse at the bottom of the ravine, brought you back home, put you back together and then let the Tower do the rest. 'Build An Overlord',truly a past time I can enjoy."

"So… So everyone at Beacon thinks I'm dead?" He asked, trembling lightly as the sheer fact that he'd died ran through him all at once. Gnarl turned, standing beside the Throne with a raised brow and gave the blonde a simple nod, and Jaune shook his head as he staggered back and leaned against the wall by the door, "Gods… My family, they think I'm dead…"

"Yes, Lord." Gnarl started carefully,already seeing where this was going. "If you like, we can try and find a way to get word to them that you are not. But for now-"

"I have to go see them, Gnarl." He cut across the Minions, striding towards him and plucking Crocea Mors from the Throne beside Gnarl while the Minion sighed. "Whatever you need can wait until I get to Atlas and send word to my family that I'm not... Not lying in a canyon being chewed on by Grimm!"

"And what are you going to do, Master? Walk the two week journey to Atlas with less than a hundred practically unarmed Minions?" Gnarl asked loudly, not quite shouting but close enough to surprise Jaune. The Minion normally spoke quietly, and politely, even if he was rather snarky about everything. "It took all my power, everything I had in my evil little body, to get you here and repair your body."

"The quarry." Jaune answered, standing in front of the Throne and looking down at Gnarl. "I can go there, speak to the workers, get their help."

"How? What will you tell them?" Gnarl asked, feigning Jaune's voice, "'Oh please, miners, help! I died in Vale's Initiation a month and some ago, and was resurrected using magic, in a black tower full of gremlins going on and on about how I'm their evil Overlord!' That sound about right?"

Jaune grimaced and Gnarl took his silence as an answer, sighing and dropping his voice to a more respectful tone, "Master, if you want to get back to your family, you need money, Minions, and more power. To pursue your goals, this included, we must restore the Tower to its former, Evil, glory."

"Damn it!" Jaune swore, turning to look out at the sky through the opening beyond the pool. Turning back to the Minions, he frowned, "Then we need to get started for real. That stone, what ideas do you have to getting it?"

"Well…" Gnarl's smile was vicious, and quite uncomfortable to Jaune. "The Grimm have been massing in the area lately. And near there as well. How… convenient for us."

XxX----XxX----XxX

Ruby ducked under the Beowolf, rolling onto her back and shoulder Crescent Rose, the rifle barking a round that threw the creature's corpse forward into the grass at the base of the tree beyond it. The force shoved her along the ground and she rolled, coming up with the scythe spinning and unfolding, the blade bisecting the second Beowolf she'd found like a hot knife through butter, its legs falling behind her and its body flying over her and tumbling across the grass and off the cliff behind her, tumbling through the air as it fell.

Taking a breath to steady herself, she ran to the edge and knelt with Crescent Rose leaning on her shoulder and her hand held above her eyes, looking for anything that she could see down there.

After a second she made a sour face and held her hands in front of her mouth, forming a cone and shouting as loud as her small body could, "Jaune! Where are you?'

Behind her, Weiss leaned against a tree to catch her breath, only a few feet from chest heaving as she fought to regain her breath while she looked around them warily. To her left, far enough she could barely see it, the very last pieces of ruins remained where they'd fought the Deathstalker and Nevermore. Where they had shown their courage, strength, and adaptability.

And where Jaune had fallen, batted aside by the Deathstalker as though he was weightless. Nora had been as well, but she'd recovered with her hammer's concussive grenade launcher, soaring high and rolling across the ground.

Jaune, however, had simply screamed and fallen to a tragic end.

An ending she herself had almost suffered, were it not for him. And her response, when he'd broken the momentum of her fall? Something Professor Oobleck had informed her could kill her regardless of Aura? She'd berated him. A regret to follow her through life, she was sure, and the biggest reason she was out here with Ruby, watching her pace along the cliff edge and look for what the Schnee knew she wouldn't find.

"Ruby-"

"Come on, Weiss, we have to head further out. He's got to be down there somewhere, he-he couldn't climb up. So, um…" She turned to the Schnee, forcing a stiff smile and gesturing with the point of her scythe further down the canyon and away from the ruins, "So he'd probably go that way, since no one found him the other way, right?"

"Ruby…" Weiss took a breath, the younger woman looking at her with wide silver eyes and a nervous smile as forced and stiff as the haft of Crescent Rose, and the Schnee tried to pick her words carefully as she could manage. "The canyon has been searched already. Thoroughly, by professional Huntsman, even some Atlesian trackers. There's… No one down there."

"Then… Then we should go out into the forest at the canyon's end, Doctor Oobleck gave me a map." Ruby swallowed, shifting Crescent Rose into rifle form and hanging it off her waist, "He has to be out there, if he isn't down there."

"Ruby… Atlas had three frigates' worth of soldiers, droids and craft scour those woods for two and a half weeks. All they found were Grimm." Weiss explained, pushing off of the tree and cautiously approaching the girl.

Not out of fear of being harmed, Ruby would never lay a hand on her outside a sparring ring, and she knew that. It was a different fear altogether, because if Ruby ran from her, no force on Remnant would let Weiss catch her. Sometimes despite herself and what she knew, Weiss envied such simple, easy to use Semblances as simply running really fast.

"B-But, Weiss, I-"

"Ruby, he's…" Dead, but Weiss knew to use careful language with Ruby after what Yang had said days prior, especially now. Instead, "Jaune is gone, Ruby. Three weeks, Beacon and the military searched, once they found out he had faked his way into Initiation. No sign of him out there anywhere, not as far as the best Atlesian technology or even the best Valean or Atlesian Hunters could find. What can we possibly find on our own?"

"I… I don't know, but we…" Ruby's mouth worked into a grimace, the young woman looking for words she didn't have. "We have to try, Weiss. He could be out there, and hurt, and-and alone! He needs help!"

"Ruby, he is gone." Weiss argued quietly, stepping forward and gently, anxiously pulling the younger woman against her for an awkward hug. The Schnee didn't know how to do this right, her arms didn't know where to sit, her feet shuffled awkwardly, and she didn't know how much to press against the other woman, "You need to accept that, or… Or we'll lose you too. You are my partner, I won't stand for you to get yourself killed. You understand me?"

"Weiss…" She whined, arms wrapping around the smaller woman and pulling her against her suddenly, crying into her shoulder and forcing out, between sniffles and stammered words and sounds without meaning, "He was my first real friend, and he… Now he's gone, and… I can't do this again. I-I just can't handle this."

Again? Weiss thought to herself, smiling sadly and rubbing a small circle into her back, "Yes you can, Ruby. You're a strong, brilliant Huntress-to-be, right?"

"Y-Yeah…" Her voice was so quiet,so weak and frail, it almost brought Weiss to tears. She'd been so insufferably excited before, but this was somehow all the worse compared to that.

"Then you can't let this break you." She said confidently and sternly, well, as much as she could manage at least. Her eyes watering, and throat aching to cry, her condition was little better than Ruby's own. "We'll get through this together, like partners should, and make the Grimm pay for taking away your friend. And for every other friend they've taken from everyone else."

"Promise?" Ruby asked quietly, "We'll do it all together, right, Weiss?"

"Yes." She answered, smiling sadly. "A Schnee always pays her debts, after all. Now come on, we have to get back before dark."

"Okay, Weiss." Ruby answered, hesitantly letting go of her and stepping past Weiss towards the forest. Weiss made to follow, and Ruby added, "Thanks, Weiss. You give good hugs, you know."

After a moment's hesitation and a look around the canyon edge for herself, Weiss followed after her.

XxX----XxX----XxX

"I don't like this plan, Gnarl. At all." Jaune complained, kneeling in the trees overlooking the quarry about a mile down.

"Yes, yes, Sire, but you need the stones for the job." Gnarl chuckled from behind Jaune, and the Overlord rolled his eyes, "In a couple senses, actually. And luckily, getting both is down there."

Several large buildings sat at the bottom of a large, man-carved - maybe Minion carved as well according to Gnarl - pit, dark stone blending with paler rock all around it and the forests around that. The height on three sides was such that no Grimm would survive the fall, hundreds of feet down along sharp, angled rocks that ended in hard, unyielding stone at the bottom. The sun was only beginning to set, and Jaune could see the last workers cutting away at the stone, hauling loose soil and rock away, or shaping stones around the working area into smaller bricks that could be used while about a dozen defensive droids patrolled mechanically in twos.

Though the cynical part of him, the part echoing out of the Gauntlet, wondered if those patrols were a bit close to the workers - Faunus to the last - to merely be protection from the Grimm.

"But… If the Grimm are massing, we should warn them." Jaune said simply, arms crossed over his chest. Over his thin shirt he wore several overlapping layers of light, soft silver furs with thick, rubbery undersides. A wolf skin served as a cloak to keep out the cold winds, and thick wraps obscured his face and muffled his voice slightly under were clipped into the hood like a fur helmet stitched onto the cloak, "And why are they massing at all? There has to be a cause."

"These creatures, Faunus, they aren't treated all that well. Especially of late, a new head of the work crew showed up and, well…" Jaune turned where he stood to look down at the head Minion and the creature shrugged, "Three have been injured already, and the mood is quite sour. Ripe for a Grimm meal, I am told."

"They are attracted to negative emotions… How do you know all of that though?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the Minion.

"Spies." The Minion shrugged with a small and sly smirk, "The Minions can sneak around rather well, and it's rather easy to notice when someone breaks an arm or leg. Quite eventful, everyone notices that sort of thing. A whole lot of screaming, crying, sometimes some blood on the stone, it's quite the show I am told."

"Hm… Then how do we… Gods, I can't believe I am saying it it, but how do we get the Grimm here?" Jaune asked, plucking the simple hand-axe he'd been given, the handle as long as his forearm and the wood and metal as dark as his gauntlet, from the dirt. "I guess you have that part figured out?"

"The Minions are luring them here already." Gnarl assured, smiling confidently and hoping to convey that to the young Overlord, "And whittling them down as well, slaying some and luring others away so that the numbers are low enough not to inflict terribly high casualties on you or your own force of Minions."

"That better be the case…" Jaune sighed, shaking his hooded head and hefting the weighty axe, "And why couldn't I just use Crocea Mors for this?"

"That hideous white thing?" Gnarl asked, making a disgusted face, "Ugh, my Overlord, that weapon doesn't suit you or us at all. The white, symbolizing purity, and chastity, and justice, all the opposite of us Minions and your nature as Overlord."

"Uh huh." Jaune nodded, unimpressed at the flacid answer.

"And, well, it would draw some questions if you show up with a dead man's weaponry." He offered, smiling and shrugging, "Might throw a few investigation shaped wrenches in, well, all of our plans to do much of anything. Like breathing, if we Minions are decided to be destroyed. I like breathing, Master a touch more than seal clubbing. Ah, do you like your tunic, by the way?"

"You didn't." He groaned.

"The troops were bored." The Minion defended weakly.

"Gnarl…"

"I was raising morale!" Gnarl argued further, raising his arms and flailing them theatrically. "Our forces march to battle for you, and all we request is a little fun. No one got hurt."

"I think some baby seals got hurt, Gnarl." Jaune argued weakly, tossing the axe in the air and catching it absently. It was well-weighted, he noted with an approving nod, easy to catch and wield. "And I think I'm wearing them."

"I will answer that when you aren't holding an axe, Lord." Gnarl answered, the two sitting quietly for a moment before he added at a look from Jaune, "The furs look quite dashing Lordship. The silver from the seals brings out your eyes quite nicely. And, uh, your scowl as well. Quite intimidating."

XxX----XxX----XxX


	3. Chapter 3

XxX----XxX----XxX

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Only a few more moments passed before the first Beowolves flew out of the forests and hurtled towards the work camp's short, almost useless wall, and clambered over it and into the entryway to the work yard itself, rolling on the hard stone as they landed and coming up with snarls Jaune couldn't hear and snapping jaws. Below him, the workers turned from what they were doing as the droids all turned suddenly and began quickly marching in one direction.

Within seconds, they realized what was coming and panicked, fleeing for the edge of the camp, the sheer cliff walls serving as much to pen them in as they had to keep the Grimm at bay. The droids knelt a dozen feet from the charging Grimm in staggered pairs, their rifles from where Jaune sat sounding like small, tinny pop-guns, with bright light flaring in concert with each echoing shot, spitting rounds that lit the night as they went towards the charging Grimm in long and deadly arcs that struck down the lupine Grimm as they loped forward.

The closest pair of the silvery drones fell under a flurry of claws as a dozen of the Beowolves slammed into them, bowling them over and ripping into them in a flurry of fur, claw, and sparking steel. The drones, brave as such things could ever hope to be, fought until they were torn asunder and scattered across the ground. Kicking, punching, clawing with blunt metal fingers and firing rifles desperately.

It was all programmed responses, on both ends, a cynical voice whispered inside him. Not courage from the machines or fury from the beasts, but feigned displays of both based on programmed responses to input. The machines were nothing but clockwork soldiers, fighting because that was their design, and the Grimm were the same, the cynical voice said. Machines of metal and machines of flesh and bone and fur, just playing parts given to them like actors on a stage.

He preferred his version better, he found,after some thought.

Beyond the Grimm and dying machines, past the main building where the workers and their foreman lived, Jaune saw a large bear of a man with a pickaxe held above his head and small horns curving above his ears, speaking to the massed workers huddling against the wall as far from the entrance as possible. Some clutched axes like his, others what looked like chisels, and some flexed their hands as though stretching out claws.

Which given their heritage, they probably were.

"The large one is brave, Master." Gnarl whispered, Jaune barely turning his head to regard the small creature next to him. "Probably dead, too, soon enough unless you go down there and make a very good, very violent impression. Along with your Minions, of course, Lordship."

"How do I call them, tell them to attack?" Jaune asked, watching half the dozen Beowolves left standing lop towards the work building where workers and staff had no doubt hoped to hide, tearing at the door and windows.

"Raise your Gauntlet high, channel your own Mana through it, and call out to them." Gnarl instructed simply, Jaune raising the metal claws and looking at the light glinting off their tips, turning the dark steel orange like molten metal.

After a moment, he raised it, palm facing towards the forests the Grimm themselves had sprung from, he felt a familiar cool warmth pool in his chest and slowly coursed down his arm and into the fingers of his gauntlet as the small gem pulsated and glowed warmly, and he spoke, simply and quietly and feeling no urge to raise his voice, "Come."

He sensed their obedience, the gem's warmth turning hot and sending a wave of heat up his arms, Jaune clenched the armored hand with a smile, the heady sensation sending a rush of pleasure and satisfaction through him. He loved every moment of this, the adrenaline that sent his heart pounding, the warmth that energized and soothed him at the same time, and the knowledge that his word was a command that was unable to be ignored.

Was this what being the Overlord meant? To have such utter and absolute power over all else?

Jaune found surprisingly that he liked it, this was entirely unlike what he feltback in Beacon where he was the weakest and was always looked down upon. The feeling of power and control rushing through him like a drug. Heady, thick, and heavy. Like syrup in his mind and in his blood, simultaneously energizing him and making him feel lethargic and dull..

"Good, good, Master." Gnarl cheered, waving a hand at the cliff. "Now, jump from the edge, Lordship. Or you'll miss all the fun." Jaune's satisfied smile vanished, and his head snapped to the Minion with a disbelieving and shocked expression, and Gnarl at least managed to look sheepish and add, "And, well, you may wish to get a running start so as to avoid the sharp rocks on the descent."

"You want me to jump."

"That is the fastest way down, yes, Lordship." Gnarl answered simply, shrugging and watching the small black shapes moving towards the distracted Grimms' backs with sharp wooden spears, claws and hammers taken from the Tower's halls, while the workers desperately fought off the first few to come for them rather than the workhouse when they saw the easier target.

Some formed rudimentary spearwalls in groups of three or four, prodding at the Grimm while others ran around them and leapt onto their sides and backs to stab and hack with claws, stones and spears. Gnarl saw it and smiled, "And soon, too, else our new... Er, friends may start attacking your loyal, brave foot soldiers when they get too close. Browns are so, well, eager to fight. Especially when their Overlord has commanded them into battle!"

"And you're only telling me now?" Jaune asked, turning from the Minion and watching his fighters leap into the fight bravely or stupidly. Some crawled on the Beowolves' backs, digging sharp stones and sticks into their hides while the dark wolves fought, clawing at them. He saw a clawed swipe crush a Minions and winced, "I don't have much choice now, I guess."

"Not really, Lordship, but I am sure you can manage." Gnarl assured him, grinning that toothy grin he often wore. "Use the magic you know, hurtle yourself through the sky, and then break your fall with it. You have the abilities, Master, you must merely have the will to wield it."

"Gnarl, I swear to Oum himself, one of these days..." Jaune sighed, pointing at him with the hatchet. Gnarl raised his brow curiously, and Jaune sighed, letting it drop. "Nevermind, Gnarl. Just… You need to learn to share things a bit more."

"I will do no such thing, Sire. Sharing is not for Minions like myself, any more than mercy, or charity, or bathing, or good dental hygiene." Gnarl scoffed, waving at the cliff edge while Jaune made a face, "Now, make a good entrance, smash a few skulls, and try to have yourself a good time. Alright, Master?"

Jaune rolled his eyes and took several long steps away from the cliff, bouncing on his heels while he worked up his nerve. His blood pounding in his ears, the distant echo of the snarling Grimm, and the wind in the trees were all taken in and understood in a singular moment as he braced himself and after that moment he took a breath and, with the cool rush of the air across his body and the Mana flowing through it alike, charged for the edge of the cliff. He leapt as far as he could into the air, twisting and opening his palm behind him, and a muted thump sent him hurtling a dozen feet or more and spinning through the air in a tall arc over the open working are.

He couldn't help it and screamed, expletives and simple shrieking both in equal measure, as the sky, stone walls of the cliffs around him, the distant ground, snowy trees, and more he couldn't discern flashed by him in a flurry of blurred colors, shapes and impressions. He couldn't see as his arc petered out and he began his descent, so he swore again, and thought as quickly as he could.

He closed his eyes and listened, and when the sounds of the Grimm started to grow louder, he braced himself and channeled his Mana, tucking his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Instead of a single large concussive burst, he focused harder, separating it like water being poured into several cups instead of a single pitcher.

Letting out the smaller, controlled bursts of raw Mana slowed him down, and he caught sight of the rapidly approaching ground. Gritting his teeth and summoning even more Mana, the cool rush carrying a hot tinge like a warning as it moved, he held the Mana in his hand and held his breath at the same time. Just before he hit the ground, he let the Mana loose, bouncing almost like a ball off of it where it collided against the ground and flailing in the air before landing on his back and groaning.

He rolled over and rose, looking into the eyes of the Faunus massed against the sheer cliff. Surprised by his appearance, frightened by the Grimm and his Minions, and with both written into their faces. Behind him, he could hear the excited and pained cries of his Minions mixed in with the snarling of the Grimm.

The bear of a man with ram's horns stood the furthest front, a pickaxe as long as he was tall in both hands like a spear, spoke up, "You a Huntsman?"

Smiling behind the fur that covered his face, he did his best to sound confident, dangerous, and powerful and answered, "No, I'm the Overlord. Here with my Minions to save you from the Grimm, though, so call me whatever you want to."

Apparently, dramatics came easily to Overlords as well.

"Behind you, Grimm!" A woman called from somewhere in the mass of workers, and Jaune span and planted his foot, raising his gauntlet in a fist on instinct and calling forth a surge of Mana once again on pure instinct.

A claw swiped for his chest and he ducked under the Beowolf's claw, coming up behind it as it scrabbled on the stone and turned, snarling at him menacingly. Behind it, even the bear of a Faunus balked as it rounded on Jaune and rose above him, snarling. A wide mouth of razors dyed red and claws to match, fur matted and stained, standing taller than he did on its hind legs, the first pieces of armor plating starting to bud near its joints and along its spine and red eyes peering out of its mask. He couldn't blame them for being afraid.

Oum, he had a magic gauntlet and a dozen or so Minions with him and he was terrified of the damn thing.

Jaune swallowed his fear and slid his right leg back, hefting his axe and holding his gauntlet between them, sending all his Mana into it. A roar rumbled in its chest before it loosed it, and the beast lunged. He ducked under snapping jaws and punched upwards with his gauntlet, coming up on its flank and burying the hatchet in the Grimm's right shoulder as the same paw landed to recover from the missed swipe.

The axe bit through the hide and into bone easily under his strength and the sharp metal's edge, and the beast roared as its arm gave out and it fell, Jaune's gauntlet burying in its ribs with his fingers like a spearhead inside it. He released the Mana and a muted thump sent its upper half shot away several feet, tumbling before coming to a stop.

"Now," he started, taking a deep breath with aching ribs from his impact with the ground and raising his Gauntlet high, channeling Mana through it as before and spreading his palm while he looked at the massed Faunus, "Minions, finish this. Protect the workers, and destroy the Grimm. For your Overlord."

A cheer went up around the work camp from the Minions, crying as loudly as the small creatures could, "For the Overlord!"

The theatrics seemed to him to be a bit much, but when he looked at the Faunus, they seemed calmer and more assured after it. So maybe the dramatics were worth it after all? Jaune wasn't sure. Lowering his gauntleted hand and hefting his hatchet, took a tired step toward the main building.

Why was he so damn tired already? He'd have to ask Gnarl when this was over.

"Uh, Overlord?" He stopped and turned, looking at the Ram Faunus again, and the man actually seemed almost nervous of him. Afraid. He was confused for a moment, before he remembered how people saw Huntsman, and they didn't show up with an army of gremlins. "There's people in the administration building. I don't know if they're okay, but can you-"

"Minions." He started, cutting the man off and raising his Gauntlet again, "Change of plans. Secure the administration building." Several sets of nearby, beedy yellow eyes looked at him in confusion, and Jaune sighed and pointed with the Gauntlet, "That one, you idiots."

He sighed when they cried, "For the Overlord!" But still, they swarmed the building quickly enough, and he moved to join them.

A single Beowolf exploded out of a window with two Minions on its back and one gripped in its jaws, landing near Jaune and shaking its head harshly to kill the unfortunate creature and letting it fall from its blood-stained ivory mask, turning hateful eyes on Jaune and snarling. The sound was cut short by a harsh stab from a small spearin its ribs, courtesy of one of its passengers, that killed the intimidating sound with an almost sad whine like a struck hound. Three more Minions piled on before it could do anything else though, pushing it back against the wall below a short staircase that led up to a door above the struggling creatures, and he kept on with a sympathetic grimace hidden by his mask and little else.

A moment later and that fight went quiet as well, aside from the Minion's tired cheers. He spared them a glance to see them sprawled on the floor beside their fresh kill, arms spread and tongues lolling with goofy, satisfied smiles, and rolled his eyes. "Guess they deserve the rest…"

He pushed open the door and let out a small, very unflattering shout of terror that sounded like it was caught somewhere between a twelve year old boy and a bird as a Beowolf lunged for his face, his Gauntlet coming up on instinct as it slammed into him and carried them into the metal railing behind him. The metal bent under their weight and he grabbed the beast's throat, holding the Grimm's head back. Its fangs snapped in front of his face, close enough to smell the iron of the blood staining its teeth, combined with an odd musty smell he couldn't - and didn't want to - place. Several spears were lodged in its side, so the creature was weaker than it normally would be, letting Jaune pull his other arm away and raise his hatchet.

Three powerful, hacking strikes of his axe, and he tossed let the corpse slide off him and leaned on the railing, resting on his elbows and catching his breath, "Gods, those things are heavier than they look..." The Minions who had been resting gathered around it, poking it with the bottoms of their sharpened sticks and kicking at it mockingly, and he groaned, "You guys just… Go keep an eye out for more of them?"

The creatures nodded excitedly, one snapping off a lazy salute, and they ran off towards the camp's entrance with a tired cheer. Shaking his head, the blonde Overlord pushed off the railing and - cautiously, his hatchet held above his shoulder warily - pushed open the door and stepped a foot into the administration building.

Inside, the place was a mess, and he gagged at the sight of it. Desks and chairs splintered and thrown around the room, the fluorescents that had been hanging from the ceiling sparking and casting sparse, flickering light around the room. He caught the scent of iron and saw a woman in a white uniform sprawled across the crush top of a desk, her stomach torn open and the bits inside strewn around her, and turned back for the door with a gag.

No one was alive in there, he knew that already, and he needed air.

"Well?" He heard, looking up at the Ram Faunus as he pulled the door shut behind him, five more of the workers following close behind. Huddled together, almost, appearing less as an entourage and more as a frightened flock of people who happened to be with him, "Did you see anyone?"

"No." Jaune answered quietly as he pushed by them, grimacing behind the mask when the man grabbed his arm and held him there. "Just...Just a lot of blood, and bodies, and broken furniture. It's safe though, so just... Do what you need to."

"Just have to get a call out, let… Shit, I don't know who, but someone know about this. Probably whoever takes over after that asshole isn't around anymore." The Ram gave Jaune a once over, making a face caught between anxiety and gratitude before sighing, "Is he… You know, dead?"

"No one should be alive in there. The Grimm would have torn them apart. Did tear them apart, actually." He answered simply, the man nodding and turning to the others after waiting to see if Jaune had anything else to add.

"Alright, ladies an' gents, listen up. Get blankets, shovels, and start clearin' the place out." The assembled group made faces, clearly unenthusiastic about cleaning up the mess they all knew had to be in that building. Ram grunted loudly, drawing back their attention, and added, "Now I know that some of these guys didn't treat us nice. But some of them are our people too, and we're all the same in the end. Don't disrespect the dead."

With tired, somewhat angry, grumbles the group shuffled away to do as he asked and Jaune tossed in a, "You're good with them. They're scared, but they're listening to you."

"They're like kids, some of 'em. Good hearts, but…" He shrugged and turned back to Jaune, smiling thinly, "Life's hard, you know? People get a bit jaded, but… All corpses in the end. Same dirt, same bones, same red in our veins. They just need a prod is all, like anyone else out there."

"Still..." Jaune sighed, shaking his head clear of the memories of what was in the building, and looking at the Faunus, "I need a favor. Two, actually, but one isn't really that hard to do. The other is… Kind of out there."

The Faunus man crossed his arms and leaned back against the railing behind him, sitting on the bottom of the rail at the base of the stairs, and Jaune explained, "I need you to keep the existence of my Minions under wraps. If people found out about them, then they would be in danger, and… I'm kind of attached to them."

Literally, he left unsaid, of course. If the Minions were taken and the Tower destroyed, he didn't know what would happen to him. And… An odd protectiveness over them settled into his chest at the thought, like he wanted them safe.

Odd, he thought, though something distinctly normal sat under it in his mind. Like something implanted there, resting like a memory but certainly not one of his own. He couldn't place it, not really, but it felt kind of like deja vu.

"You save dour skins, I'll keep it under wraps. Since you asked, I mean. Won't risk it if Atlas send people out, though, and they start askin' questions. I'm sure you understand why." Jaune nodded and the Faunus smiled grimly, "Then we're good there, Mister Overlord."

"Just, uh, just Overlord." Jaune corrected weakly, the Faunus barking out a laugh in his deep, booming voice. "I don't know your name, by the way."

"Ah, nah, guess I never introduced myself right an' proper." The Faunus shrugged, leaning his long pickaxe against his off shoulder and offering his right hand for Jaune to shake, "Shaun Weiss, Atlas born and Atlas raised, much as they don't like it mch. Resident stonecutter, cook when I need to be, comedian, and quite good at killing Grimm with a pickaxe if I do say so myself."

"Did you actually kill any Grimm with it?" He asked curiously, looking at the long-handled tool, as long as a spear might be with a heavy, hardened pickaxe-head with a flattened hammer-like head on the other end. It certainly looked like it could kill some Grimm, that was for certain.

"Nah, but don't tell the ladies back in Atlas that." He laughed, "Gotta take what I can get, yeah? And make up some stories to cover for ya too, at that. See? Helpful guy, ain't I. Now what else did ya need?"

"A good word with whoever takes over ownership here." Jaune said simply, gesturing at the dark stone stacked in the open area nearby, cut and ready for transport. "I need that stone, and want to work out a deal with them."

"Can do, Overlord." He nodded, smiling. "Not a problem in the world."

XxX----XxX----XxX

"You used your Mana up, Sire. Forced too much to flow through you, and too quickly as well I wager. To be expected, until your body adjusts." Gnarl explained when the small creature finally arrived, standing beside Jaune where he sat at the main gate that led into the stone cutting camp, ostensibly on guard duty in case more Grimm showed. "Nothing to do about it except let it happen, while your body adjusts to the strain of using Mana and it doesn't. Shouldn't kill you unless you do anything particularly stupid."

"Like what, exactly, Gnarl?" He asked half-sarcastically, Gnarl shrugging and not really offering anything in the form of an answer. "You're very helpful, Gnarl. Anyone told you that before?"

"Forgive me if you can, Lordship, but without my scrolls, my library and my records, I am afraid I don't have much to offer you. My memory is not that of a book, I can't be asked to remember everything I have ever been party to. Such is impossible, Great Overlord." Gnarl explained, defending himself quietly as much out of respect for Jaune's position as for his wish not to be overheard by anyone, "All I know is that Mana is limited, as is your ability to channel it. And apparently, these are separate items entirely. While you have a lot of Mana within you, using it is different."

"Like muscles." Jaune observed, nodding understandingly, "We all have muscles, and for some people it's easier to grow them, while it's harder for others. And some people can't really gain muscles all that well at all,my, uh, my dad explained that to me. When I was younger."

"I sense a story." The Minions chirped brightly, watching his Overlord stare into the forest around them for a long moment before the creature sighed, "I suppose that it is a story you do not wish to share, then. That is fair enough, we all have a few of them. Some of us have more than others, of course," Jaune could swear he heard the Minion grumble 'jester' but the aged creature continued on before he could ask, "Anyways, you are correct in your comparisons, Master. It's called Mana Burning."

"Just means I have to, you know, train it. Just like everything else I have to practice at and train, takes time to get used to it and learn how to use it." Jaune spared Gnarl another glance and raised an eyebrow, "Right?"

"Yes, Master." Gnarl answered respectfully, bowing his small head as much in thought as respect. Or at least a feigned kind of respect, Jaune half-suspected deep down. Not that it mattered, he didn't exactly have many options. "Honestly, though, don't fret over your… Performance issues too terribly much. It is rather normal, I believe."

"Gnarl!" Jaune barked, embarrassed, "I… You can't just accuse people of… of performance issues."

"Why not?" He asked innocently. Or, well,as innocently as a demonic looking creature at waist height with bright yellow eyes and sharp teeth could ask anything. Which wasn't actually very much, if Jaune was honest about it. "It is common for some people to have such performance issues. Especially when they're a touch inexperienced. Why, I remember one of the past Overlords had this issue with his-"

"Gnarl. You're being aggravating, again, please stop it." Jaune sighed, the Minion shuffling past him and looking around boredly.

"Yes, yes, I happen to be quite good at that. Aggravating people is among my best skills, next to hunting and sewing jackets that look quite good on you." Gnarl sighed, clapping his small hands together and turning to look at Jaune and past him, at the camp beyond. "We need to discuss plans, for what to do next. And how to do it, as well, of course."

Speaking of Deja Vu… Gnarl's smile was a bit discomforting.

XxX----XxX----XxX


	4. Chapter 4

XxX----XxX----XxX

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Over the next week they had to wait for someone actually able to negotiate his pay in a more legal sense, Jaune spent the vast majority of his time walking through the forests surrounding the work-site, patrolling for Grimm with a dozen of his Minions surrounding him and Gnarl shuffling along beside him, or hiding behind a few of his better-armed Minions when the Grimm inevitably showed themselves, drawn more to Jaune himself than to the Minions that followed at his heels eagerly.

The Minions, his Minions he corrected himself, were surprisingly adept at this kind of thing. Hunting Grimm through the forests, some of the Browns had even displayed some relatively keen tracking capabilities, following Grimm tracks and finding the well trodden and pummeled routes the beasts frequented through the brush laden with the thin frost of storms long passed and boreal foliage of the ever-wintery Atlesian forest, trees bough from the heavy snow and thin ice and snow crunching beneath their feet as they traveled through with muted sounds that somehow echoed in the frozen, silent forest.

Jaune's foot sank into the snow a bit deeper than he expected and he stumbled, catching himself on a tree and yanking his legs free with a grunt, staggering into the large clearing a few steps before catching his balance and straightening, a hand resting on top of his hatchet warily. After a moment, he raised his Gauntlet into the air and made a circling motion with his hand, the Browns fanning out in the clearing quickly, wooden spears now tipped with dark slate shards glinting mutely in the sunlight filtering through the trees. Cast-off stone from the carving process that Shaun had donated them rather than trash them when Jaune had told him they would be walking the area to protect the camp a bit more proactively.

"You are learning to command them quite quickly, Lordship." Gnarl observed quietly while Jaune plopped onto a fallen log and watched his Minions search for more tracks, the ones among them who could actually track were digging in the snow and frost and looking at the trees around the clearing. "You're fast becoming adept at it, which is good to see."

"Isn't that why we're out here?" He asked simply, watching his breath steam in front of him and smirking in amusement at it regardless of how childish he knew it was to be amused by something like that. Dying had a way of shifting one's priorities, though, and he couldn't find it in him to care. "To let me learn how to use them, like an Overlord should be able to."

"Yes, yes, I always send Overlords out like this, though, and some of them are always too daft to figure their job out." Gnarl sighed, squatting on the ground and relaxing while they watched the Minions work. "They never listen unless they want to, and then the dumb ones get beaten up, and maimed, and very, very dead. And almost always without anything to even show for it, the bastards."

"I don't exactly plan on dying, Gnarl." Jaune remarked dryly, watching a pair of Minions squabble a few feet away. One grabbed his spear and Jaune barked, "Brawling is fine, but drop the weapons and take off the furs first, or you'll freeze. We won't start killing each other, understood?"

The two Browns looked at him, blinked a few times, then looked back at each other and shrugged. Inside a minute their furs and weapons were on the ground, and they were rolling in the snow and pummeling each other mercilessly.

"Those two just can't seem to get along, Master. This is the ninth time they have started a brawl, almost always as soon as we settled in to find the next set of tracks." Gnarl sighed tiredly, chuckling and shaking his head while he watched them scrap. "I suppose it keeps them ready to fight, at least."

"Kind of annoying, though." Jaune complained weakly, resting his armored had on his knee and looking at the armor covering his hand, examining the interlocking plates and fur closely, curiously.

"Order them to stop, then." Gnarl advised him, watching him curiously with a raised brow. Jaune simply hummed in response, staring at the gauntlet curiously, and after a moment Gnarl continued, "That Gauntlet gives you much power, ordering the Minions is just a part of it, you know."

"Yeah, I know." He sighed, letting the limb drop at his side and taking deep, cold breath under his mask. "And I know I can order them to stop, and I know they will, but… I don't know."

"You don't know what, Lordship?" Gnarl asked, eyes narrow and watching the young Overlord carefully. Not out of any malicious intent, but rather out of simple curiosity alone. What was the young Overlord thinking?

That was a question Gnarl was more than used to asking about Overlords. Sometimes, similarities were oh so nice.

"I-" Jaune was cut off when one of the Tracker Browns stood tall, whooping excitedly and running through the group towards him and the Head Minion's spot on the other side. Standing, Jaune sent a clipped, 'Never mind' and moved towards the creature, "What did you find?"

"Marks and scratches in the dirt under the bushes, Overlord!" The creature bounced excitedly as it spoke, Jaune towering over him like a grown man would a child and looking down on him as he spoke, "Has to be big angry Wolf-Things, Master! They like to scratch and paw the dirt, so they can smell the way back later."

"Good work." Jaune complimented quietly, the small creature swelling with pride as he reached out with his gauntlet to pat the creature's small head. "Can you guess its size and age? Maybe how many are with it in its pack?"

"No, Master." It answered, sounding for a moment almost depressed at the failure to answer the question before perking up, standing straighter and smiling an odd, lopsided and toothy grin as he continued, "B-But, Lordship, it has to be a bad Wolf-Thing, because the marks are too big! No normal wolfies around here ever get that big, oh no, not around here. No, no, no, Master, not around here! No, too big to be normal wolfies, has to be the big bad wolfies, Master."

"Then go get ready, and we'll hunt it down." Jaune ordered simply, turning from the creature and back to Gnarl as it scurried away excitedly behind him. Raising his voice, and of course the gauntlet, he ordered, "Get it together, we are leaving in a couple minutes." Then, quieter, he added to himself, "Another one for the tally, I guess…"

An hour and a half later, Jaune slowly advanced on the trio of Beowolves, curled up in the snow as evening wore on and resting, probably for warmth given the steadily dropping temperature. His Minions were spread out in a wide circle, several feet between each one and holding their spears with the points down, ready to throw at a moment's notice with only as much delay as it would take to raise their small arms and loose.

Grabbing onto the trunk of a tree, Jaune roe to his full height and gave a shout of, "Oi! Grimm, I'm here!"

The reactions were instant and expected, the trio leaping to their feet and forming up in a straight line, snarling at him angrily. None took the first step forward, jaune notice, instead looking to each other with hateful, beady little red eyes. Probably dregs from the packs that had attacked the camp, he guess, raising his hatchet and taking a purposefully awkward step into a snow drift nearby, sinking in up to his knees as the Grimm took their chance and launched forward, baying for blood.

Into the hurled spears of every Minion around him, coming in from every angle as they stepped into a killing field they'd drawn ahead of time, the spears thrown as they loped forward into their landing spots. The Browns, for all their faults and squabbling, were damn good fighters and while they weren't marksmen by any means. And their aim showed that, soaring straight and true from their clawed hands.

Not one survived, and Jaune sighed as his Minions cheered and shot forward, yanking spears free to brag and argue over who had killed the Grimm and who had missed, four of the wooden shafts buried in the snow near the dead beasts.

Gnar and Jaune watched them for a while before the Head Minion sensed his anxiousness to get moving and raised his voice, "Oi, you idiots! Get the plates and let's go, the Master is getting bored waiting for you all!"

"Thanks." Jaune said, taking a long and chilly breath, enjoying the fresh air, "It's time we get heading back to the camp, before the sun gets lower. We don't want to get caught out here at night."

"Of course, Master." Gnarl agreed, inclining his head and moving towards the Minions, patting the Overlord's leg as he passed by. "I'll get them to hurry along, then. That way we can get back before it gets particularly chilly and we find a need for another fur hunting trip."

"No. More. Baby seals." Jaune ground out slowly, enunciating each word carefully and clearly for the Head Minion to hear. Gnarl snorted a laugh and shuffled further away, smacking a Minion lazily fiddling with its spear as he went, and Jaune sighed. "I swear, these are the worst servants ever."

"As you say, Master, but come along." Gnarl called back with a chuckle, hobbling away as quickly as he could at his age and with his stature. "Perhaps if we are lucky, that woman will finally show up at the blasted camp. Maybe then we can get some progress made, yes? I swear, it feels we've been stuck in the snow for weeks on end."

XxX----XxX----XxX

"How you doin'?" Yang asked quietly, Ruby laying in her bed, legs curled up under her blanket and skimming a comic boredly. Her eyes flicked from the comic to Yang, standing at the head of the bed, and Yang added, "Haven't really, you know… Talked about it yet. Jaune, I mean, and what happened and… You know, all that."

"I…" She sighed, folding the page of the comic to save it for later and setting it on the bed beside her, sitting up and swinging her legs out over the edge, letting the rose patterns there distract her for a second before sighing, "I'm… I don't know, Yang. I only knew him for, like, a couple days. Heck, not even that long, but…"

"Still your friend, right?" The blonde asked, smiling grimy when Ruby nodded. "See, doesn't much matter how long you knew him. He was a good guy, yeah?" Another simple, quiet nod, "So, how you doin'?"

"I don't know, Yang, I just…" She sighed, sounding tired and drained, and Yang nodded understandingly. "Is it… Am I a bad person, for being happy that the funeral is just… Over? Does that make me bad?"

"Psh, not even." Yang laughed, shaking her head and shouldering off her uniform jacket, sighing contentedly as the constraining clothes were tossed away and then plopping onto the bottom bunk across from Ruby and looking up at her, "You're the nicest girl in the world, Ruby. Being glad that all the drama and crying is done with doesn't make you a bad person. Just… A person."

"Why not?" Ruby asked, Yang grimacing and closing her eyes.

"Guess we're doing this then…" Opening her eyes, she looked at Ruby's and asked, "You remember when Mom died? Sumer, I mean." Ruby shook her head, and Yang understood. She'd been too little back then, and kids tended to forget bad things sometimes.

"Well, after the funeral was over, I felt the same way. I was… Drained, I guess, and tired. Just wanted to be left alone and take the time to get better all on my damn own." the blonde smiled warmly at her sister, crossing her arms and leaning back against a pillow, "You're not a bad person, you're just… A person that wants to stop hurting already and just move on. It's normal."

"Really?" The smaller woman's voice was quiet, weak, her fingers twiddling with her sheets while Yang had been talking.

"Promise, Rubes." The blond responded, "Now, how about we head out and do what adults do when they're sad?"

"And that's…?"

"Hit a bar up, obviously." Yang answered, hopping off the bed and bouncing towards the drawers excitedly while Ruby watched, fishing around in them for a minute until she found the small box she was looking for, barely large enough for a few rounds from Ember Celica to sit in it. She turned back to Ruby and held it up, smiling sadly, "Was saving this for your seventeenth birthday, but with everything going on now…"

She tossed the small box at her and Ruby caught it fairly easily, looking at the small thing curiously and then to her sister, "Yang?"

"Open the box, doof." She sighed, shaking her head while she dug in her drawers for something good to wear for both of them. "And then go take a quick shower, kay? Don't go out while you're all sweaty and stinky from the day, s'a rule of mine."

"Is this a fake I.D.?" Ruby squeaked in surprise, Yang turning with a wide smile and shushing her until Ruby whispered, "You got me a fake I.D., Yang? Dad says doing this is wrong! It's against the rules."

"It's fine, I have one too." Yang assured her, chuckling when she dropped off her bunk and moved towards her. Grabbing one of the girl's nicer shirts, Yang spun on the spot and lobbed it at Ruby's face, her squeak muted by the cloth as she staggered back and Yang chuckled, "It's fine, just a misdemeanor in Vale."

"I don't wanna be a criminal!" She mumbled through the shirt, Yang grabbing her and tossing the struggling girls over her shoulder with a bright laugh. Tossing the shirt onto her bed, Ruby moaned childishly, "Lemme down, Yang!"

"We're taking a bath and headin' out!" Yang explained brightly, carrying the suddenly blushing and much more wriggly girl into the bathroom, the blonde brawler's muscles far too toned and conditioned for wriggling girl to escape. "C'mon, it'll be fun."

"Yang!" She cried, "I'm not a little kid anymore!"

"I know, that's why we're gonna get drunk tonight!"

"I'm not a criminal either!"

"Yet!" Yang corrected, laughing happily and kicking the door shut behind them with a leg, Ruby finally giving up and relaxing on her shoulder. Yang let her drop to the floor and smiled, ruffling her hair, "Just leave everything to Big Sis, yeah? It'll be great, promise you'll have fun."

"Okay…" Ruby finally nodded, the blonde grinning a cheshire grin. "Whenever you smile like that, I used to get grounded."

"Oh hush and get in the tub." Ruby would forget all about Jaune after a hot bath with her sister like the old times, and some drinks, Yang was certain of it.. "This'll make you feel better for a bit, Lil Sis. Promise."

Always worked for the blonde herself when she thought too much about Summer or Raven.

XxX----XxX----XxX

"She arrived a few hours ago, Overlord." Shau explained when he arrived, his Minions hiding in the forests around the camp. The worker was laning against the inside of the camp's entry-wall, arms crossed and thumb playing with a bandage wrapped around a fresh looking wound, his pick resting against the wall next to him. He caught Jaune's gaze lingering on the bandage and chuckled, "Relax, not the new boss' handiwork. Nah, some slate burst next to me when one of those idiots hit it odd and I caught some stones is all."

"I'm glad to hear that." Jaune responded honestly, smiling under his mask. "I would be… Kind of angry, I guess, if she had done something like that to you."

"For a guy leadin' a bunch of four foot tall demons around, you're a bit of a softie once you know someone, eh?" Jaune flushed and, distantly through the connection his Gauntlet offered, heard Gnarl snickering. Shaun noticed too and laughed, bright but quiet and carrying the same charisma as when Jaune had first met him, standing before his fellows and ready to die for them.

Or, to die first at the very least, that cynical side of him chipped in helpfully. After all, without him, even more would have died… Not that they would have faced the Grimm then if not for him whatsoever, that voice offered oh so helpfully again.

"About the Minions…" Jaune started, Shaun nodding understandingly.

"Don't worry, boss. Everyone knows, made damn sure of it. They tell the new boss lady that you killed the Grimm for us, no mentionin' the little things you asked us not to." Jaune thanked him quietly, and Shaun chuckled again, "Hey, man, you saved our asses. Not somethin' a lot of Humans would do for a Faunus work crew without bein' paid, and you didn't know we could pay you. An' there's how you talk to us, too."

"How I talk to you…?"

"Yeah." Shaun said quietly, nodding at the man respectfully. "Lookin' us in the eyes, straight on, not callin' us names even. You respect us and that gets you noticed here in Atlas. Shit, would get noticed in Vale and Mistral too, but especially here in Atlas, and even more when we realize you're probably some kinda Huntsman. Your kind don't much like mine, not 'round here at least."

"'My kind' are only the ones that treat people right. Not based on race, Shaun." Jaune argued simply, relaxing regardless and looking around at the busy workers doing their jobs. Some saw him and nodded in his direction, and he felt the guilt pang again. How many of them lost friends for him, without even knowing? Shaking it off, he added to Shaun, "Anyway, when is this woman supposed to be available, exactly?"

"Dunno." Shaun shrugged, "Said to come out when I told her you were here, told me to wait with you 'til she could come see you herself. Kinda the foreman now, under her o'course, since the last one died in the workhouse."

"Sorry I couldn't get there." Jaune said quietly, Shaun nodding understandingly. A certain understanding passed there and Jaune took a deep, cold breath, "My Minions and I have cleared out almost every single Grimm for ten miles around here. That should prevent any more attacks, but I'll have some scouts out every now and again. Just in case, you know?"

"Appreciate it." Shaun said genuinely, smiling at the young Overlord genuinely, continuing while Jaune tried to quash the pang of guilt he felt. "Not every day we meet a guy like you, you know. Ladies around the camp been talkin' you up all week now."

"O-Oh?" He practically choked, voice cracking suddenly and making him wince. Shaun laughed at that, bright and happy, while Jaune flushed and crossed his arms. Shaun's eyes lingered on the gem in his gauntlet with a mixture of fear and awe, and he shifted uncomfortably, laying a hand over it, "Don't poke fun at me, I never have any luck with women. They all tend to call me a gangly nerd."

"They called you a gangly nerd? The seven feet of masked muscle with the demon army and the shockwave glove?" Shaun huffed in disbelief, shaking his head and looking to his left when he registered motion, nodding his head towards a woman approaching them and pushing off the wall and grabbing his pick, "Boss lady is here, so break is up for me."

"You spent your entire break talking to me?" Jaune asked, surprised, "You could have just... left me here and gone to actually enjoy your break, you know. I thought you were, I don't know, just told to come over here."

"And you didn't have to jump off a gorramn cliff to save our sorry asses." Shaun shrugged, hefting the pickaxe and letting it rest on his shoulder comfortably. "S'fine, don't stress it. Enjoyed chattin' with ya."

The Faunus left without another word, and Jaune turned to regard the small woman as she approached stiffly, more from her clothing than any inherent attitude most likely. She was almost a foot shorter than him and thinner as well, with small breasts and thin legs under heavy white snow-clothes. A narrow face with dark, raven hair and smart, bright brown eyes looked up at his cowled face curiously and and then rived down him analytically and back up as he shuffled his feet anxiously. The action drew a raised, thin eyebrow and a tilt of her head in curiosity.

Another moment passed before she spoke in a quiet voice, a slight Atlesian accent tugging at the edges of her words. "You're this… Overlord then, yes?" He nodded and she offered a small, white gloved hand to him, "My name is Emilia. Emilia Frosti, but the surname doesn't carry much weight with my father's passing."

"Overlord." He offered weakly, reaching out with his armored hand and gently clasping it around her much smaller one. "Sorry I couldn't save your father, Emilia. There were a lot of Grimm."

"Don't be, my friend, he was quite a bastard I assure you." Jaune blinked at the honest, bright smile she gave him and she turned towards the workhouse. "If you will simply accompany me, Overlord, we shall see to legalizing the agreement you made with my workman."

The workhouse itself was thankfully clean even if the images of the torn furniture and bodies wouldn't leave his mind, a few workers at the desks that had replaced the destroyed ones sparing him an interested and, sometimes even grateful from what had to be holdover workers from the attack, glances from them as he passed by and followed the small woman up the stairs and into the second floor. The second floor was a mostly barren office, with a bed in one corner and what had to be a bathroom next to the stairs, a large desk with a computer on it next to some metal filing cabinets dominating the center of the small room and taking up the rest of the small space.

"So," Emilia started, pulling the simple office chair out and taking her seat in it, gesturing at a matching one across the desk from her for him to sit, "I believe we have some officiation to see to regarding a deal you struck, my friend?"

"Yes, Ma'am." He said, taking the chair and reclining in it comfortably. It was simple, lacking even armrests, but he didn't care too terribly much. It was already insanely comfortable compared to slogging through the forests and camping, and it was surprising how much he'd missed something as simple as a chair. "I came out this way for the stone being mined here, that's why I was here to help when the Grimm attacked."

"And how much do you need?" She asked simply, waiting for an answer Jaune didn't actually have. Brows knitting in confusion, she asked, "You do have a set amount you know you need, don't you?"

"I don't know." He said quietly, shrugging and feeling for the world like he was back in school, being chided by a teacher.

"Well." She sighed, shaking her head, "I… Suppose we'll have to discuss it. I can arrange ten tons as payment, for now, over the next few months' time. If you need more after, then we can arrange another deal of sorts, perhaps in exchange for your services over a time in and of itself. Is that reasonable?"

"I-I think so, yeah." He nodded, the woman's mouth working into a thin line as he spoke. "I was going to actually do that anyways, though, since I'm… In the area, you know? Wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't fight them and keep you all safe here when I could, you know?"

Emilia was quiet for a long moment before she reached up and pushed the rather simple head-wrap off of her head and shook her hair out, smiling good-naturedly, "You're kind of new to this whole negotiation part of your job, I take it?"

"I-I guess." He admitted, ignoring Gnarl's sigh at the honest answer, the Head Minion no doubt less than impressed at his new Overlord's honesty. "Sorry? I just moved out here, so, you know..."

"You should be sorry, Master, you and your sickening niceness." Gnarl chipped in shortly, Jaune fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "Don't worry, Lordship, we will cure you yet. I assure you, a few routine clubbing trips will get you right into shape. Maybe even run into a few quaint little villages somewhere, get you some women to enjoy!"

He was going to rip the Minion's head off when he got back, he swore to himself.

"Well…" Emilia sighed, grabbing a pen and pulling out a clean piece of paper, "For now, I assure you that my offer is reasonable. The stone here is prized for the contrast in its coloration with the surrounding snow, and it is surprisingly durable as an aside. Given the utter destruction of my business had you not intervened, I feel that the price is fair."

"It sounds fair, yeah." He nodded, "But, uh, I might need more later, so-"

"I will add an addendum that further services rendered will be payable in the same manner, unless you would prefer Lien?"She explained, waiting for him to answer. He shrugged unsurely and she put pen to paper, scratching out notes as she spoke, "Then for now at least I will simply leave that open. For now, the stone will be sent wherever you like. Do you have a preference for who handles it?"

"I'd like Shaun to do it, I already know him and… I don't like visitors, especially when I don't know them." The excuse was weak, he knew, and her smart eyes narrowed in a way that told him she did too. But she didn't press him, instead leaning over the desk and scratching at the paper again. After a moment, Jaune shuffled and offered, "I'm, uh, sorry again about your dad."

"And again, do not be." She assured distractedly, "He was quite the bastard and a bigot as well, Overlord. Not a word to me for three years and the first letter I receive is one telling me he has died. And the conditions he kept the workers here in… Simply offensive to see such a thing."

"Oh." He offered weakly, awkwardly drumming his fingers on his arm and grimacing.

Sensing his discomfort, the woman sighed and looked up at him, "I apologize, Overlord, I just… Hadn't been expecting to suddenly need to move out here and clean my father's messes up. I am fatigued, forgive me."

"It's fine." He assured her dumbly, not really sure what else he could say.

"Here." She said, handing the paper over to him, "A draft of the contract. With your approval, I will make an official copy and we can dispense with the business aspect of our meeting and move on."

"To?" He asked curiously, skimming the document over while she waited patiently and then handing it back when he was satisfied with it. "Looks fine to me, Ma'am."

"To dinner." She explained, smiling warmly at him, "It is late, after all, and you will need to rest here for the night while this is sent to Atlas to be notarized. Digitally, of course, so it will be done come morning. In the morning we sign it and all Atlas will recognize it as a legal document. And please, call me Emilia."

"Alright, Emilia." He swallowed nervously, watching the woman turn to her computer and set to work transcribing the words on the paper into a digital version. "Except, uh, I'd like to keep my name hidden."

"May I ask why?" The woman responded, fingers freezing over the keys and turning her head slightly to look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Personal reasons." Another weak excuse with plenty of conclusions she could draw that he didn't quite enjoy terribly much, but she seemed to accept it with a resigned sigh.

"I will add an addendum for your professional name to be used solely, then." She nodded, watching him out of the corner of her eye curiously. He notice and she knew he had, adding, "You're an odd man, in Atlas. A fake name, a covered face, and strength enough to apparently fend off a Grimm attack virtually without aid. Yet you've no negotiation skills or a Huntsman's caliber of weapon, instead using what looks to be a normal handaxe."

"And what does all that say?" He asked warily, watching her closely.

"That you are an odd man, with an odd goal but a personal one, and that it requires you to be in the wilderness of Atlas." She shrugged simply, smiling honestly at the computer and never truly turning to look at him. "You shall not be getting any judgement from me, rest assured, Overlord. All who come to the wilds of Atlas, of all places, do so for their own reasons."

"Thanks." He sighed, watching her work in quiet gratefully after that.

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	5. Chapter 5

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"How much more needs to get done before the Tower is back to…" Jaune paused for a second, halfway up the steps in the great throne room of the Tower, now mostly restored after all the work he'd had to put into it. "Normal? Or, uh, as normal as the Tower can get, I guess. Since I don't think the word 'normal' was really made for this kind of situation."

The formerly damaged walls and columns replaced by frankly impressive - given that the Browns had made it - brickwork and columns made of stacked bricks, interlocking and mortared together. Heavy, dark oak doors freshly carved and hanging on hinges of dark iron set into the stone, wrought iron wall-torches between each door bringing light and warmth into the dark place, casting cruel shadows from their spikes onto the smooth walls and across the floor, dark stone brickwork covered by a thick, grey and black stitched fur rug leading from the pool in front of the balcony and all the way up to his throne, which itself had thick and dark furs layered onto it both to keep it warmer and to make sitting on it more comfortable. The fur came from his own efforts, mainly boredly trekking with his Minions and fighting Grimm while the rest of his servants worked on the Tower and then when he ran out of Grimm to kill resorting to hunting actual animals, for food and fur.

Which, coincidentally, added a distinct bit of Lien thanks to the workers at the quarry buying a lot of both off of him for obvious reasons. Deer, elk, moose and even some wolves all made better food than old stock shipped all the way from Atlas, which itself shipped from even further away.

"The reconstruction is almost entirely done now, Lordship." Gnarl said with a sweeping gesture, "This was the last room to be fully finished, as you ordered for whatever reason, and now we simply await the recovery of… Items of certain specific and unique uses. Once we have those we can set to some even more fun goals. Ah, that's where you come in, by the way, Lord."

"Like what? And how do I factor in?" Jaune asked, moving to his throne and easing onto the seat with a contented sigh. He'd never owned fur like this, and gods was it nice...

"Ah, perhaps a few conquered villages, some women to stock for your pleasure in the Tower of course, a decent amount of Lien..." Gnarl saw Jaune's unamused and frankly aggravated gaze, a single eyebrow raising warningly, and chuckled sheepishly while he played with his beard thoughtfully. "I-I see you are beginning to improve at intimidating your underlings, Lordship. Quite impressive, I should add. I suppose you meant what the Tower needed, then?"

"No, Gnarl, as a steep change of pace I would love to go kidnap some innocent women and force them into my bed." Jaune rattled off the words with as much sarcasm as he was personally capable of summoning and Gnarl, to his credit as usual, had the good grace to at least feign an apologetic look on his face, even if Jaune knew damn well it was faked for the most part. "What does the Tower need, Gnarl? That isn't just what you want to be amused by?"

"The great and mighty Forge should be your first concern, sire. Without it, the only weapons we can fashion will be the rudimentary trash currently hanging off your hip." Gnarl nodded at the hatchet hanging out of Jaune's belt with a deep frown, "Without the three smelters, no matter what we toss into the forge, Giblet won't be able to give you anything worth much. I know where the least of them is, luckily enough, but I am afraid not much beyond that. The others are, sadly, lost to my knowledge."

"Where is it, then?" Jaune asked, pulling the hatchet from his belt and looking it over curiously and absent-mindedly. Of course Gnarl had forgotten where the other ones had gone, he seemed to have forgotten all the things he should have remembered. "And my hatchet looks great, and it did pretty good against the Grimm."

"Yes, and I am quite sure it would shred through chopping wood, too, sire. But that is not the purpose of the weapons an Overlord wields, and I doubt that once you bear a weapon forged of arcane metals and enhanced by magic you will ever again want to use that paltry piece of petty iron." Gnarl climbed the stairs, gesturing at the gauntlet on his firearm with a finger, "That Gauntlet is the sole reason that you are able to even use magic, a great weapon that can be brought to bear against your enemies in fantastic displays of utter annihilation and destruction!"

"Sounds useful." Jaune admitted, the Minions smiling and nodding eagerly at the agreement, clapping his tiny hands excitedly. "Is that why learning how to do other things is so hard? I've been out in these woods for weeks now, hunting Grimm and training, and doing whatever you say to try, but all I can do is just… My Mana Burst."

"Yes, and no, Sire." Gnarl sighed, shrugging his small shoulders, "It's all about luck, when it comes to magical capacity, I'm afraid. In every sense of the phrase. You, Lordship, are very naturally predisposed to have massive stores of Mana to say the least. Grand as that may indeed be, when combined with a thorough education and a library of materials to learn how to use it… Well, ancient kingdoms could fall to such powerful individuals."

"Which I don't have." Jaune sighed, Gnarl nodding. "But why can't I learn anything else you do know about? You've mentioned a couple spells when we've talked, even before we got the stone we needed for the Tower."

"Because with great power reserves comes a great need of training. The proper kind, that is, with all the books, scrolls and lessons that go right along with it." He sighed, shaking his head, "Normally, I would suggest looting a magical academy, or indenturing a magic-using group, or maybe even sacking a castle of some lord or another with magical interests."

"I wouldn't do any of those." Jaune chided him gently, Gnarl grimacing but understanding and nodding to convey that. "Randomly attacking people won't accomplish anything I want to be part of."

"Of course, your Evilness, of course. As I said, though, it would be my suggestion and nothing more. And it doesn't matter, really, because none of them exist that I know of any more." Gnarl scoffed, shaking his head disapprovingly, "Humans now have abandoned true magic altogether, as far as I can tell. We won't get any progress made there, no matter how much fun we have trying to rip that knowledge out of these petty Kingdoms that reign now."

"So you can't teach me any real magic." Jaune sighed, Gnarl nodding apologetically at the statement. Jaune didn't quite like that idea, he'd looked forward to bringing magic back to the world, but sighed and moved on, "Fine… Back to the Forge, then, since this is a dead end. That can help me use magic?"

"Yes, Highness, it can. Sort of, at least." The Minion gestured at Jaune with a wave, "But first, a brief explanation of magic and how it is sometimes harnessed, as I was saying earlier. Your body is a natural reserve of positively overwhelming amounts of Mana. In a lot of ways, and not all of them good, sadly."

"Think of it like water, Sire." The Minion continued quietly, after a pause to think of his explanations, "Water is a good thing. A necessity, even, for life to thrive in any way. Rivers, lakes, even oceans all provide water for things people and Minions both need. Mana is the same way, a requirement for magical power to thrive. And it can, and is, controlled to do these things."

"Like aqueducts and dams." Jaune offered helpfully, the Minion nodding.

"Exactly like those, Lordship. Exactly like aqueducts and dams, I'm rather surprised I didn't think of that actually... Now then, what would happen if someone tried to build a dam in a river of raging white froth and sharp rocks?" After barely a moment, not really wanting Jaune to answer the rhetorical question, "It fails, utterly, because there's too much water and it is too strong."

"It washes away whatever we try and do." Jaune finished, sighing and reclining against the stone disappointedly, "So let me guess. I have too much Mana to learn how to use magic naturally?"

"Sort of, yes." Gnarl answered quickly, "If you had a talented mage, or a large and thorough library perhaps, or anything like that then you could easily train yourself naturally to wield magic easily and to truly glorious effect. Which means you are unfortunately damned to not be able to tap into that potential."

"But we don't have any of that." Jaune finished, shaking his head, "Oh well, I guess. There isn't anything we can do about that, I guess, so may as well adapt to it and find another way. Which I guess is why this conversation stemmed from talking about the Forge?"

"Yes, Master." Yet again, Gnarl pointed at the Gauntlet on Jaune's arm, the gem glowing warmly almost like it was enjoying the conversation in some capacity, or at least reacting to it especially when it was brought up directly. Maybe it was just Jaune paying it attention? "That Gauntlet is enchanted and allows you to use Mana through it, in a variety of ways, mostly Minion related. Controlling, creating, drawing power from their deaths even, all ways that Gauntlet lets your Mana be put to use. With effort, materials, and the Forge, other items can be fashioned to do the same."

"So I could make more Gauntlets?" Jaune asked quickly, drumming armored fingers on the stone seat's arms with a dull clacking at the idea. "I could make more, and give it to people I trust? Like commanders in an army, helping me coordinate the Minions and-"

"N-No, Master, I'm... afraid you can't replicate it. Not without understanding its more intimate natures." Gnarl interrupted suddenly, waving his hands to get his attention and chuckling nervously. "I may know a great many things about the Gauntlet and how to use it, but I don't know that, your Lordship. I know it is magical, gives command of the Minions, and that the gem is shiny, yes. Beyond that though, I have nothing to offer."

"Oh." Jaune responded, deflating slightly and looking at the warmly glowing gem. Maybe the feelings he sometimes got from the Gauntlet made more sense than he had thought… And Gods if the thought that the Gauntlet he couldn't take off without dying after a couple hours was itself alive and affecting him didn't make him nervous. "Okay, uh, sorry about that I guess? I got excited at the idea."

"By all means, Master, and you need not apologize to me, I am but your humble servant after all." Gnarl offered easily, inclining his head politely and deferentially. Once his head rose and he met Jaune's eyes once more, he continued, "As I was saying, the Gauntlet is an example of what can be made, even if it can't be replicated itself. The gem can, of course, be moved to a new vessel is properly made but we can't do that currently either."

"Well then?" Jaune asked simply, "Where is the first piece of the Forge, the one that you know where it is?"

"You will not be pleased…"

"Gnarl, answer me." Jaune ordered, flexing his armored hand and letting the gem's glow threaten him as much as command him.

"It is… On the continent of Sanus, I believe it is called now, Master. On an island whose settlers call it Patch, a weeks walk from the Kingdom of Vale if we just, uh, look atdirect distance to travel..." Jaune's answering glare made Gnarl swallow nervously, the unspoken demand for an explanation clear, and Gnarl continued, "Until the Tower was restored, as I told you, we had no way of travelling any great distance, Master."

"And now we can get there?" Jaune asked meaningfully, the Minion understanding and grimacing at the meaning there. Jaune's home was on Sanus, after all.

"Yes, Master. The Tower has finally been repaired at long last now that the Minions have finished their work, and with… Minimal casualties, to boot, I would add most excitedly." He turned to point at the pool, shining with the light of the sun outside sparkling off its surface, "Using that, you can travel to anywhere with a working, connected and intact Portal."

"And how many of those are there?" Jaune asked dryly.

"Uh, working, or useful?" Jaune sighed and Gnarl chuckled quietly, out of amusement this time, and continued, "Well, Sire, most of them were built underground or in carved settlements. Better to weather the years, we felt, you see. To be passed from Overlord to Overlord, hidden enough that most would survive the tumult of a passing torch. Or, er, Gauntlet I suppose."

"And those Portals are…?"

"Underground, in caves, or buried entirely under solid dirt and soil." Gnarl finished for him, staring off into space as though remembering something haunting, "I took a look through several. One was an old underground mine, and I saw something with far too many legs and eyes turn to look at me through the portal. I have never swiped left on the portals arcane selector so very quickly or with such vigor as I did then."

"You saw a…. Giant Grimm spider?" Jaune guessed, the Minion shuddering and nodding. "I approve of your decision, please see to it that that Portal is removed from the list and forgotten completely, thank you Gnarl."

"Truly a wise decision." The Minion complimented brightly, not even skipping a moment before adding, "Shall I ready a contingent of Minions for you to retrieve the Steel smelter, then, Master?"

"Yes." Jaune eventually answered after a moment, letting out a long sigh and thumbing the haft of his hatchet, still held in his off hand. "Get me as many as I need, I'll go and get it right away."

"Yes, Master." Gnarl returned, turning and shuffling away to rouse the Minions needed for his venture. Just another fabulous day as an Overlord leading an army of gremlins, he supposed, honestly comfortable for a minute before something registered.

"Gnarl! Where are my old clothes? It's hot in Vale and I am not wearing fur out there!" He stood, stomping heavily after the Head Minion as he shouted. At the edge of a door he just managed to see Gnarl's back speed around the corner hurriedly, and he shouted, "Gnarl, you rodent looking demon midget, come here!"

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Unfortunately for Jaune, he did have to wear fur out there, because his clothes were utterly useless. Which left him in a thick forest in Patch, trudging through barely-trodden and clearly abandoned hunting paths with his Minions behind him towards where the damn Steel smelter was, until they stumbled onto a small, cobblestone path, flowers and roots pushing up through them with thick trees surrounding it on both sides. At an unspoken order, the Minions spread out around him and he looked around, his eyes falling on an old and abandoned looking house.

Or the ruins of one at least. The porch had long since fallen in, vines and long grass creeping out of the multiple holes, pushing the rotted and broken planks aside. A clear upper floor had long since fallen in entirely, collapsing into the second floor and leaving rotted supports jutting from the rubble and overgrowth.

Curious, he made his way towards the house, pushing through the long grass that had grown over once-manicured lawns, tall flower-weeds sprouting in thick clumps that he stepped aside until his foot met metal and he look down, at the edge of a piece of rusted metal, once silvered steel turned brown and broken in pulled his boot out of the bottom of it where he had kicked through it and knelt.

Gently pulling the rusted metal from the grass, he turned it over in his hands a few times, looking for a name. Eventually he found it, his Minions surrounding him curiously for a look, and spoke, "Long? This house was owned by an Long family. Wonder what happened to them..."

"It looks like they couldn't stay here." Gnarl chuckled darkly, speaking through the gem in his gauntlet. Its glow flashed brighter with each word, "Weaklings often do that, Sire. They move where they shouldn't and end up getting eaten by something significantly more toothy and angry. It's usually quite fun to watch, actually. Lots of screaming, arms flailing as people run away or get mauled, the Minions love to watch it."

"Gnarl…"

"What?" The Head Minion asked defensively, adopting an almost chiding tone as he continued, "Watching humans panic and run around with their arms waving over their heads is a national Minion past time. The key to leadership is understanding how to motivate and entertain one's troops."

"With… People running around in terror with their arms flailing?" Jaune asked, shaking his masked head and standing in the chest high grass with his dozen Minions spread out around him, spears poking above the grass. "Sorry, Gnarl, but I don't know how often you all will be able to, uh, enjoy that particular past time."

"Oh, I know and understand why, Lordship." Gnarl sighed, sounding disappointed but resigned all the same, "Many Overlords past have often opposed simple raiding and sacking, in favor of conquest and gaining influence. It is quite fine, I assure you, even if it is… Quite boring a lot of the time."

"I'm not apologizing." Jaune asserted simply, actually smiling when he heard Gnarl chuckle.

"No. You aren't, and you should not. We are yours and do as you wish, oh great and dark Lordness." Gnarl said, sounding deeply reverent and respectful. A beat passed before he added, "But, perhaps and just perhaps now, you may want to actually do your job and find the blasted Steel smelter rather than gawk at old houses?"

"I'm going, I'm going." He sighed, dropping the mailbox back into the grass with a muted thump and crunch of weak and rusted metal crumbling under the force of simply falling even into the soft grass where it had rested, and continued, "Which way is it?"

"North, sire, another hour or so of walking yet. I must confess, though, to a bit of surprise at the utter lack of Grimm in this area." Gnarl answered, sounding genuinely confused, "Usually, the area is positively swarmed by the insufferable creatures. That's why we haven't ourselves gone and gotten it."

"Then why aren't there any here?" Jaune asked simply, turning over his shoulder at the edge of the former yard and looking at the house one last time. Sighing, he looked around the forest before him curiously, the trees blocking out the greater part of the light and leaving the woods in shade and shadow, "I haven't even seen one of them, and that's just… Weird. Right?"

"A good bit, yes, unless of course this is some manner of trap." Jaune stiffened, stopping where he stood and scanning the woods around him warily. "It might even be one for you specifically, your evil worship. Given the sole item of interest out here, I mean. Unless they particularly love these specific woods."

"Grimm don't love anything, and they don't set traps." Jaune dismissed, resuming his travel immediately after the Minion had finished speaking. He ducked under a low limb as he continued, "Grimm aren't intelligent like that. They're just dumb animals, everyone knows that, Gnarl."

"Truly?" The Minion asked, sounding amused, and chuckling even beyond that when he added, "Because it seems odd to me that your race has so much trouble with them, if that is the case. Perhaps that is the best evidence that you're quite needed, since these foolish and petty little humans can't even beat dumb beasts, My Overlord."

"They're…" He sighed, "It's more complicated than that, Gnarl. And you know that."

"Do I, now?" The Head Minion asked, sounding oddly… darker as he spoke. "Because, and with all due respect to you and your station of course, I see no reason that these petty Kingdoms would lose to base beasts and animals."

"Gnarl, I-" He froze when he heard an odd, faint sound, off to his right and distant. Muted thumps and baying hounds, far enough away but infinitely familiar to him now, along with a different sound he couldn't place properly. "Beowolves? Attacking someone, it sounds like. I told you, Gnarl, whoever that is has to be the reason they are all missing. A Huntsman or a Huntress, it has to be."

"Good. Makes our job infinitely easier, with whoever that is distracting the Grimm we can slip by, retrieve the smelter without any risk at all, and get back to the Tower without…" Gnarl sighed, simultaneously unsurprised and still distinctly surprised at how easily Jaune threw caution to the wind, striding through the woods towards the sounds of battle and yanking his hatchet free with his free hand, "Master, please,consider what you are doing for a moment."

"I already have, Gnarl." He grunted, walk speeding until it reached a run, "I'm a hero at heart, or want to be at least, and you need to get over it."

"But, Master-"

"I am the Overlord, and this is my will!" He snapped suddenly, ducking under another low branch and continuing his run, leaping over roots, evading branches and using the hard and sharp claws of the Gauntlet to catch on trees and pull him towards the path he could see. "Do not talk back to me any more concerning this, you understand?"

"There is the Overlord!" The Minion crowed happily, Jaune actually coming to a stop at the surprising joy in his voice. "That, my Master, is what an Overlord is all about! Yes, yes, Master, enforce your great and oppressive will, as every Overlord has before you throughout all of time!"

"You… egged me on? Just to get me to make you do what I wanted, regardless of your opinion?" Jaune asked, surprised at the idea and disbelieving even as Gnarl confirmed it. "Why would you… That makes no sense."

"Yes it does, with a little actual thought, at least. You're not the first to hesitate in imposing your will onto others, Lordship, not by a long shot. All that is needed is to… coax out a bit of domination and all becomes clearer." Gnarl explained, "Now go on, save whatever idiot decided a walk in monster infested woods is a good hobby, but I would suggest that you not expose yourself like a moron to more people. Not with your Minions in tow."

"Fine." Jaune sighed, bouncing his hatchet in his hands nervously, weighing it as much as his options. "A compromise then, Gnarl, since we do have things we need to deal with ourselves as well, or nothing we want to do will even be possible."

"Lord…?"

Raising his voice to command the Minions, and his Gauntlet as well with its smoldering gem set into it, "We split up, then. I'll… Go help whoever that it, and you Minions go and get the smelter, and then return to the Tower ahead of me."

The little things were eager to follow his command, running off with cheers as usual, and he sighed as he resumed his run towards the fight and Gnarl spoke, actually managing to sound at least slightly worried. "You understand that dying is a one way street this time, I hope. I would be quite upset if you died after all the work I went to in order to bring you back the first time you acted as a fool would."

Implying this was also 'acting the fool' in the same way, Jaune noted, electing against challenging it. Instead,he had a different tactic, "You want me to be an overlord, right? Conquering, slaying, getting richer than anyone needs to be?"

"Of course, Lordship." Gnarl answered, "It is my great purpose in existence."

"Then I need allies. Servants, friends, workers, traders, the works, right?" Gnarl didn't answer and Jaune continued, panting now from the long run, "Huntsman and Huntresses are the strongest people on the planet. A single Huntsman or Huntress can slay hundreds of Grimm at once. What could be a better friend to have?"

"I suppose you are right, Master." Gnarl sighed, clearly displeased by the entire turn of events. "Just don't die, eh?"

"Never knew you cared." He quipped, the Head Minion chuckling darkly on the other hand.

"Oh, rest assured quite completely, Master, I don't. Beyond that I serve you, of course, I won't fret over you getting yourself killed if you want to beyond just telling you how stupid a particular idea is. Like this one. Which is quite stupid." Jaune rolled his eyes and Gnarl added, "Plus, cleaning the Gauntlet is so annoying. The blood seeps into everything, and that is just a bother no matter how you slice it."

"It can't be that bad." Jaune argued absently, more to keep the talking going as the sounds of the fighting got louder and louder. He could hear a voice now, sounding exhausted and haggard and shouting challenges, and sped up as much as he could. "Remind me to work… On my running endurance, Gnarl."

Without another word, he burst through the trees, planting his left leg and hauling his hatchet back in his arm as he searched for a target. First he spotted a man standing in the middle of a wide open clearing, at least thirty yards wide and odd for that reason, wearing torn cargo pants, a beige shirt that had been ripped open to bear his muscled chest as he turned to cave in a Beowolf's skull. A small metal shoulder plate hung off a strap on his back, a torn one matching it on the front. Four Beowolves surrounded him now, several others dissolving around him still, the fifth that had been fighting him before collapsing under the weight of his punch as he leapt over it.

One of the four leapt high and slammed its shoulder into him, throwing him to the side and into the ground hard enough that he cried out and rolled to a stop a half dozen feet in front of him and hopped to his feet, looking surprised when he registered Jaune's presence. The man gave an awkward wave and a small smile before he spun, sliding into some kind of a boxer's stance as the Grimm charged him, yellow energy sparking off him as his chest heaved.

His Aura, it was breaking, Jaune realized, reversing his stance so his left leg and arm pointed back and summoning his Mana to him. That same familiar, addicting rush of power surged through him, an echoing thump sounding as the Mana Burst detonated in his armored palm and sent him careening through the air, legs tucked to his chest and arms around them as he flew high. As soon as he felt his leap peter out he unfolded his limbs, some fifteen feet in the air, and used them and the wind to spin himself so his arm faced back.

This time when he called on the Mana, instead of an open palm he channeled it into his palm and used his fingers to form a funnel. This blast sent him rocketing down towards a Beowolf, his armor arm pulled forward and balled into a metal, spiked fist. Two feet in front of the man, he slammed into the lead Grimm with the force of a cannon, cushioning his falland crushing the beast's back under his force and weight under his feet.

The second scrabbled in the dirt to react, claws trying to stop its charge so it could face the new threat. Jaune's fist slammed into its shoulder and forcing it down into the dirt with a sickening wet crunch and a whine, his hatchet embedding in its skull ending it before it could do anything else. A third, further back, slammed into him full force and he leapt with it, leaving his hatchet in its fellow and instead grabbing a fistful of fur with his un-armored hand, the Gauntlet coming up to block its teeth when he saw its mouth open for a bite. They rolled across the dirt, Jaune using his free hand to brace on the ground and stop them with himself on top of it and then wrenched his hand in its jaw.

The bone gave way easily, and he raised the Gauntlet again, once more forming that spear tip with the clawed fingers and bringing it down into its chest while its legs kicked at him, claws scratching at his fur armor and the flesh beneath and scoring a few shallow cuts across his skin for its efforts. He turned in time to see white teeth and mask when it finally went limp, open wide and aiming for his throat, and his eyes widened in panic at the closeness of the beast, having expected it to attack the stranger instead. Too close to turn in time and defend with his Gauntlet, he started to summon Mana to his Gauntlet again in the hopes of rocketing into it and escaping with only minor injuries...

Just in time for his hatchet to slam into its neck and hurl it to the side, the corpse rolling to a stop and starting to smoke as Jaune rose, letting out a breath and turning to the blonde as the man approached, limping gently on his left leg and with his left arm cradled against his side, but smiling widely regardless.

"Are you okay?" Jaune asked, looking the man up and down and ignoring his own shallow cuts even as they bled under his armor. "I saw your Aura flickering, that means you were out, right?"

"Yeah, m'fine, now at least. Don't stress it, not the first time a few more Beowolves than I thought were out here." He answered, looking Jaune up and down, "What about you? I see tose cuts, so your Aura is down too?"

"Uh, yeah." Jaune lied awkwardly, the man raising an eyebrow in response. Thinking quickly, Jaune added, "Been fighting some myself, on the way here after I heard our fight. Never had much Aura, myself, so I make do."

"I can tell that much without you saying it, believe me." The man chuckled, stopping only a couple feet away and offering his good hand for Jaune to shake. "Saved my ass, though. A few of 'em got me pretty damn good. Probably wouldn't have made it without you."

"You seemed fine to me, mister…?" He accepted the hand, and the blonde smiled even wider.

"Name's Tai Yang Xiao Long." He answered, snorting even before he added, "Just call me Tai, though. The full name is way too Long to say all the time, you know?"

"Uh…" Jaune trailed awkwardly, the man letting go of the surprised Overlord's hand, "Was that supposed to be a joke?"

"Ugh. No one gets the humor ever since my kids left for school." The man turned, waving his good arm over his shoulder, "Should come with me, though, I'll get your cuts taped up at my house. S'only a few minutes away from here."

"You did want to make friends…" Gnarl offered as Jaune thought it through, before Jaune shrugged and made to follow.

What could possibly go wrong, after all?

XxX----XxX----XxX

Sorry for the dry bits, but I had to get some world building done to speed things up a bit.

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	6. Chapter 6

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The pair walked for around twenty minutes, Jaune helping the man with his armored gauntlet under his arm after a while, the blonde chuckling as his masked companion helped him up the steps to the porch in front of his house, "Sorry, I, uh, don't usually get roughed up this bad just doin' these odd jobs on Patch. Grimm are pretty bad up that way towards the old house up there, though, so I guess it makes sense."

"I didn't see much out there, beyond a few packs of Beowolves. There were roads, though. And ruined houses every now and then." He said, hoping that the curiosity in his voice and the meaningful glance he gave him over his facemask would convey its meaning, though he added to be safe, "Felt kind of odd, considering you were still sent out here to clear Grimm out."

"Yeah, I can see that." He nodded, fishing out a set of keys and unlocking the door for them to come in. Jaune continued his half-carry to the couch, letting the older Huntsman drop onto the couch with a thud and sigh, gesturing at a chair across from him for Jaune to take a seat, which he did, easing onto the couch and laying his hatchet on the floor with the handle up and propped against achair. "Lotta people lived out there, and some of 'em still lived in Patch after the Grimm got too bad up there and they moved further down the island. So a lot of people like the area to, you know, stay cleared as best it can be, to visit the old places and some graves out that way."

Jaune had,of course, not seen any of those things as close to that house and the Smelter as he had teleported in, but he couldn't say that without rousing suspicion he certainly didn't want to rouse, and instead, "I guess that makes some sense. But all by yourself? Surely, you have friends or something that could help you. Huntsmen and Huntresses are formed of teams in the Academies, after all."

"Yeah…" He looked at Jaune for a long second and sighed, "Me and my old partner, his name is Qrow by the way, we don't exactly… Get along. Or Raven, a third in our team, either. She ran off to… Do her own thing, I guess, years ago."

"And the third?" He asked, reclining in the chair comfortably. A chair which, he might add, was a lot more comfortable than his throne was. "What about him? Your whole team can't hate you or be gone, that just… Wouldn't make sense, you know?"

"No, I…" He seemed to regard Jaune for a long time, fingers drumming a mindless beat on the arm of the couch while he slowly worked , before he sighed and pointed to a picture on the table, face down. "I always turn it down, when I head out on a mission, so I can… I just do it, okay?"

Raising an eyebrow, he reached out with his unarmored hand and plucked the small, simple wooden framed photo off the table, turning it over in his hands. It was a picture, obviously, of a woman with long dark hair tied in several thin ponytails, holding a smiling baby in her arms and looking down at it while it played with one of the ponytails and seemed to giggle. She was familiar, somehow, the memory tickling at the back of his mind weakly, but he couldn't place it. At least not right now. Maybe later, when he thought about it.

He smiled at the picture, asking, "She's your wife, then?"

"She was." He answered quietly, Jaune looking up at the blonde. The older man sighed and shrugged, smiling bitterly as an unfamiliar emotion ran its course across his face, "She… died, a while back. It's actually why me and my partner don't get along anymore. He got Summer killed, being stupid with that Semblance of his…"

Tai Yang's face screwed up for a moment in that same emotion Jaune didn't understand, coupled with… Jealousy? Anger? Jaune couldn't tell, he barely recognized the emotions outside books he head read once upon a time when he was younger, but it vanished fast enough not to matter, "She died, so… Out here on my own, handling stuff. And I got kids to put through school, so, you know. Gotta roll those dice on the harder missions that pay better."

"And those end up being more dangerous." Jaune filled in, shaking his head and sighing understandingly. Part of him wanted to offer to help, to lend his strength and his Minions to this man, but… Instead he simply said, "I'm sorry to hear about your loss. And I hope that your situation improves. I would help if I could, or knew a way to."

"What? No. No, you already did a hell of a lot, pullin' my ass outta the fire." Tai chuckled, face softening with the warmth of the sound, "Wouldn't take more from ya even if you offered it right now. Wouldn't be right to, not without paying off what you already did for me."

"I guess I understand." Jaune shrugged, more perturbed by that than he liked, "How are your injuries?"

"Healing up already, thanks to what was left of my Aura and what came back on the way home." Jaune ignored Gnarl's aggrieved groan while the man continued, "I'll probably take a hot shower and some medicine tonight, make another round of the woods tomorrow and head in to get paid after that. You gonna be around?"

"Want help tomorrow?"

"Nah, been at this for a couple days, that has to be the last big batch of Grimm around here." He waved his good hand at the thought, chuckling, "Was gonna offer you a bit of the scratch from the job though, since you saved my ass out there and all."

"I didn't do enough to deserve that." Jaune dismissed, chuckling awkwardly. "I only killed a couple of the Grimm, so I don't need any of that."

"Sire, I would remind you of our coffers and their distinctly noticeable status of 'not being full." He chuckled again, laying the Gauntlet across his lap and then laying his hand over that, and Gnarl sighed, "Sire, that doesn't stop me from hearing things! A blindfold doesn't mask ones HEARING, you know. Or need to, at least, for when you take hostages later so you can take them to the dungeon and-"

He thumped the gem with his thumb, while Tai Yang reached over to take the picture frame from him, and Gnarl murmured, "That's just rude."

"Offer is still on the table." Tai offered, raising an eyebrow at him. Jaune shook his head, and Tai leaned back, setting the picture frame upright where he'd left it, "Good for goodness sake, huh? Summer would have liked you, I think."

"I don't mind getting paid for my work, Tai, but I kind of, you know, want to do the work for the pay." He shrugged, "Just how I was raised, I guess. If I'd done more than kill a couple Beowolves, I'd be more than willing, but..." He caught a glimpse of Tai's amused smirk, and sighed, "I'm rambling."

"A bit yeah." "A bit yeah." Gnarl and Tai Yang both answered at the same time, even if the latter moved on and didn't know, "You get a bit nervous with new people or something? Because it seems that way."

"Not, er, not normally." Jaune sighed, shaking his head and thinking as quickly as he could manage, "Just tired, I guess. Been out and about for a while, you know?"

"What did you say your name was again?" Tai asked carefully, watching Jaune with a small, warm smile. "I don't think I caught it earlier, you know, with my injuries and the Grimm and so on."

"Uh, Lorde." He said with a small nod, ignoring Gnarl's annoyed sounding sigh at the name. What did the Minion expect, for Jaune to make everyone call him 'Overlord?' Probably, actually, considering the Minion's general attitude about… Everything. "Lorde White. With an E, on the Lorde."

"White? That's a Mistralian surname, right?" The man tried, careful of something, probably trying not to offend him. Given the intent behind the name, and the assumptions that brought, Jaune understood it easily enough. "Orphans, yeah? The surname, I mean."

"Yeah, but not in Mistral. In Atlas. I don't actually know what they use in Mistral." He shrugged, the lie coming easily enough now as he thought about it. A thought that nagged him less than he expected it should, and that worried him. "Sorry, never, you know, met any and knew it. Doesn't come up much."

"Yeah, makes sense, makes sense. Was mostly just curious is all, didn't mean any offense." Tai shrugged, an odd gesture with only one good shoulder doing it, and smiled widely at him. Almost like Jaune had said something funny or that he liked, but once again, the other blonde moved on faster than he could keep up, "You hungry or anything, by the way? Getting around dinner time, and you're welcome to stay for a hot meal. Maybe some Aura supplements as a chaser, all that fighting wears you down pretty damn quick."

Outside, the sun was starting to orange in the sky now. Had it been so long? Apparently, but Jaune didn't actually feel tired yet. Maybe that was because he was so used to the time frame in Atlas? It had to be a couple hours past noon there, right now. And yet he'd grown up here, and then gone there. He'd adjusted so fast… Maybe it was part of the Gauntlet? Maybe it was because he'd just stayed on the same schedule as when he'd been woken up in the Tower?

Regardless, it wasn't exactly an important question.

"No, thanks though." Jaune answered, smiling under his mask, "I should get going before it gets dark, you know? Don't want to run into Grimm at night, when it's too dark to actually, you know, see them."

"Well, have a nice evening." Tai answered, standing and walking to the door with him politely. Jaune stepped off the porch and turned when the man added, "Thanks again, for the help. I wouldn't have made it back without you, probably."

"Just take care of your kids and help someone out." Jaune answered, turning and striding away as confidently as he could manage, waving a hand over his shoulder as he went, "Everyone should do right by everyone else, if they can, so don't stress it!"

"You are far too kind, Master." Gnarl griped as he made his way down the road, following a sign that would lead him towards the small settlement on the island. Once out of sight of the house a minute later, he turned into the woods and Gnarl added, "You didn't even take the reward he offered. You could have negotiated, gouged even, but you didn't even accept the basic rewards. Also, head more north than you are. There's a river that way, so unless you fancy a bath before returning, it is not toyor interests."

"I made a friend, Gnarl." Jaune argued simply, "A Huntsman friend, and those have to be useful to have around. If I ever need it, he might be willing to lend a hand."

"Lien buys hands, Lord." The Minion sighed, sounding tired and defeated, "Very well. Should I send Minions to escort you back? Given your apparent fear of the dark, I mean."

"I am not afraid of the dark, and you know that." Gnarl groaned, listening to the creature snicker lightly and pushing his way through a bush. "And no, I think I can make it back on my own."

"Of course, Master." The Minion sighed finally, "I shall see you when you arrive."

XxX----XxX----XxX

Thirty minutes of walking later, thankfully uninterrupted by Grimm or other strangers in need, even if he wouldn't have minded helping them regardless of how much it delayed him, he found the ancient portal-stone that they had used before, stepping out of it in the woods. It was made of marble, Gnarl had said when he asked, carved thousands of years ago and indented into the ground by time, surrounded in a wide periphery by boulders than had once been a shrine or fortification, fallen into ruin over the time since and overgrown. Even the portal-stones themselves, smooth-edged by time, had been mostly buried by soil and overgrown in places, flinging that dirt and soil around themselves when he'd stepped out the first time.

Now, raw earth could be seen where grass and soil both had been burned and ripped away, hurled around the stones at his entrance. Raising his Gauntlet he asked, "Gnarl, this dirt the way it is, doesn't it draw attention? What if someone finds it?"

"Ruined dirt around some old rocks in a circle, out in the woods?" Gnarl said, tone sounding cautious before he fellsilent for several seconds, "What would you have done when you were young if you found this sort of thing?"

"I'd tell people about it, then they'd make up stories about it. Kids like making up games about things like this, but that would probably be it." Jaune answered, knowing what gnarl would say far before he did.

"Then I would assume that is all that will happen with this." The Minion answered as expected, continuing on in a more official tone, "In your absence, I have seen to the rekindling and proper fueling of the Steel Smelter, and the preparation of some decent ores for it. When you return, we can fashion you a truly impressive set of armor and something better than your wood chopper."

"My axe you mean."

"Yes, Master, a wood chopper is an axe. That is very much a part of its description." The Minion snarked back, drawing a roll of Jaune's eyes and a sigh, but little more than that as used to Gnarl as Jaune had become. "Here, we can fashion you a true weapon, one worth using and befitting the aesthetic of an Overlord far more properly than some simple little wooden-handled hatchet ever could."

"Fine, fine, just don't make me anything too crazy looking." Jaune ordered simply, "I have business that means I deal with people, and they won't like me showing up covered head to toe in spikes or skulls, or-or whatever else you can come up with."

"We'd need skulls for that, and you are sorely lacking in the skull department, Master." Gnarl chided, Jaune blinking at the veiled insult. Or what he expected was a veiled insult, but it was hard to ever know when it came to the Head Minion. And if he asked, Gnarl would just deny it and laugh, so there wasn't much point. "But you are quite right, spikes simply won't do if you want to deal closely with people. Rest assured I have quite a few ideas in mind, and one I am positively sure you will love."

"We'll talk about it when I get there." Jaune assured him, mind already racing with ideas. To think, getting to design and make his own set of armor and his own weapon! It was something he'd always-

"Well, Master, I already have the weapon under production. It is the only thing we are able to make, that we have the knowledge to actually craft for you." Jaune sighed, shaking his head, and Gnarl rushed to add, "Not to say it is inadequate, of course, Master. It is quite impressive a weapon, and perfect for carving spell runes into. You'll love it, I am completely certain of that much."

"As long as it works." Jaune sighed, thinking for a moment before adding, "It's just a regular axe?"

"Yes, Master." Gnarl answered after a moment, probably to check something, "A regular axe with a wide, bearded blade and a spike at the tip and base. Some nice, supple leather wrapped around the guard and-"

"Can you balance it right for a halberd?" Gnarl hesitated for a few seconds and Jaune added, "It shouldn't be that hard, if you can make an axe. It's just an axe on a pole, with a few… tweaks, you know."

"I shall ask Giblet to try his hand at it, but don't get your hopes much higher than he can leap. Minions are cunning, in a way, generally speaking. But most are not inventive and while some like myself are, Giblet has not flexed those muscles in more than a thousand years." The Head Minion sighed, sounding actually pleased as he added, "You are being truly demanding, my Overlord."

"I'll be there shortly." Jaune said, holding the Gauntlet out towards the stones without waiting for the Minion to answer.

His Mana surged, first within him and then out from his open palm, blue energy like lightning sparking between his fingers and then between the stones as they heated from the energy flowing through them. After around ten minutes, the blue energy connecting the stones finally connected on both ends on the far side of the wide circle, a pool of the Tower Heart's own Mana springing forth in a surface that looked like a pool, sparking with electricity and glowing dimly. After a moment and with a dull crack, the surface sparks more violently and then lies supernaturally still save for the crackling power around its rim, and Jaune lowers his arm and shakes it to dispel the numbness in it.

"That took a lot… And a while." He grumbled, turning his hand over and testing it, opening and closing his hand a few times. "The one in the Tower didn't take nearly as much time. Or energy."

"This one is far larger, and damaged, Master." Gnarl sounded distracted, and after a second groaned, "Yes, Giblet, I know you don't have everything you need, just make it work! I swear to the Darkness I will put YOU in the Smelter if you don't shove off and-" After a second, Gnarl coughed and continued, "This portal is networked, yes, but damaged and in dire need of some maintenance. A few of the Portal-Stones are missing or eroded enough to barely work, and this is also a big Portal. Not really meant for you alone even in better shape."

"What was it for then?" He asked, watching the portal crackle powerfully, feeling energy wash over him even from here in that normal addicting rush he was so used to by now.

"Tithe, mostly, from the village that used to be… Oh, about an hour north of the Portal." Gnarl answered, "And made larger enough for a large complement of Minions and the Overlord, if the peasants got a touch too… Excited."

"Wanting not to be ruled by an evil Overlord from across the planet, you mean?" Jaune waited a few second but Gnarl never answered his admittedly snarky question, so he just sighed and shook his head, "Whatever, just... Is it ready for me to, you know, use it?"

"It has been ready for several minutes now, Lord. Did you not know?" Gnarl asked coyly, and Jaune could swear he heard a quiet snicker after it, sighing and shaking his head but wordlessly moving towards the center of the Portal's swirling energy.

Unlike the normal feeling of Mana flowing into and through him for his limited uses of it, that being a cooling rush of power that at worst left a tingle behind, this was hot. Hot and wet, like a steaming bath's water flowing up and around him as the energy surrounded him and coalesced quickly, Jaune's mind flickering through unfamiliar images in search of the one he wanted. As soon as he saw Gnarl, standing by the pool in the Tower and looking bored out of his mind while he scratched at his chin, Jaune seized on it and the warm, liquid feeling was suddenly hotter, almost sweltering to the young Overlord.

And then it was suddenly much colder, as Jaune staggered past Gnarl into the throne room with a gasp of, "It is freaking cold coming out of that thing! Especially compared to Patch, the island was so much warmer than here." Shivering slightly and tugging his furs around himself, more annoyed than ever about the sweating he'd been doing, he continued, "Get some fires burning or something, that or grab me a blanket."

"Yes, Lord, I shall dispatch the Minions to ransack a town and bring you the very best blanket I can manage." Gnarl snarked, drawing a pointed glare from Jaune, "This is a stone fortress, my Overlord, it takes a long time to get it warm enough to be comfortable. Rest assured that, once we have the Lien and contacts to do so, I shall endeavor to purchase some nice, thick curtains and drapes, as well as banners and tapestries, to help capture the warmth our hearths and torches provide."

"Yeah… Yeah, good idea." Jaune shook himself, trying to ignore the cold and turning to the Minion, "To the Forges, then. Should be warmer, at least. If literally nothing else goes right at least I'll get that much."

"Oh, they are quite warm indeed, Master." Gnarl chuckled, shaking his small head as he turned and headed away from his Overlord towards the Forges. "Come along then, Master, I shall show you there and we shall get you outfitted properly. For conquests and… Other pursuits, that I am sure are just as worthwhile."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The Forges were warmer, at least, than the entry hall had been. In that it was sweltering, enough to force Jaune to shed the majority of his furs and leave him in his pants and the thin shirt he'd had one of the Minions fetch for him, still managing to feel warm in spite of even those efforts.

"It wasn't this hot before." Jaune observed quietly, looking around the large, round room and then up at its vaulted ceiling, rounded to a high peak with a hole in the roof covered by a lid on four thick legs of carved stone, for ventilation he guessed. "Guess that's because of the smelter running. Right?"

On the ground floor, three large walkways led down onto a platform aside from the main staircase itself which also let out opposite the Smelters, separated from the rest of the structure and seeming to hang over something beneath it, a warm glow coming from the openings surrounding the platform and the stairs that connected it to the rest of the structure. Braziers sat on either side of each set of stairs, one set leading to a pile of rocks and the other to what looked like a wardrobe made of rough-hewn slate bricks, metal hooks embedded into the wall going up a couple dozen feet with a large metal ladder leaning against the wall between a brazier and the indent itself. The Steel Smelter rested on one of three raised pedestals set into the far wall and above the platform between what had to be the ore and where the armor and weapons would be stored, the front hole that the molten metal flowed out of closed with a heavy pipe and thick chains holding it up.

In the center of the otherwise empty platform a simple armor stand sat, along with an armor rack on one side of the main stairs end-point mirrored by a weapons rack on the other side of the stairs. The armor stands were empty, for now at least, but the weapon rack did have something, resting vertically and held up by a tall arm made of black wrought iron, like everything else in the Tower seemed to be.

The poleaxe, since it was too short to be a halberd, was… Well, surprisingly plain actually, with a long black iron handle about five feet in length and four inches thick, a ball at the end of the shaft with a wicked looking spike on the end, curved slightly back away from the front of the weapon. Two circular hand guards rested at the top and bottom of around a foot and a half of thick leather wrapped around the haft and under the guards themselves to serve as a grip and guard. The top half of the haft was decorated almost exclusively with a thick, red flag only a foot long and barely hanging down to the guard, only the very tip of the fabric touching it. The flag - or banner, maybe, if he felt a bit like grandstanding - was triangularly shaped and bare of any symbols beyond a single round gem like the one in his Gauntlet set into the center, embroidered in jagged black outlines that to most would look like fire. To him, it looked more like the wild dance of Mana, though.

He preferred to imagine it as that, given a large part of the purpose he had in using a long weapon like this.

The head of the axe was about six inches at the tallest, and almost two thick at its base, with a curved, broad blade on one side as smooth as the stones he stood on, and a wicked jagged spike behind it and about a foot long, to serve as a second weapon and a counter-balance all in one. A second, smaller and more tame spike rested at the top of the shaft, just long enough to be useful in a thrusting attack but otherwise little more than ornamental, affixed to a thick iron ball to further balance the weapon. At the flat part of the axe where it bolted to the iron shaft, a single rune-like inscription shaped like a trident whose blades were wavy instead of straight, a ball below it the size of his pinky finger.

"A rune to let you use fire, projected in a stream from the end of the weapon for about five seconds, until you get better at using it. The rune in particular is a combination one, of fire itself and projection, and the short time is because I am not good at making runes, and Giblet is a poor Rune-Carver in and of himself." Gnarl explained when he reached the weapon and asked, lowering the weapon so Gnarl could see it. "While this isn't a traditional Overlord's weapon, well, Overlords themselves tend not to be terribly traditional things in any event. DO you like it?"

Jaune turned, giving a few experimental and broad swings of the axe, hearing the air whistle around the metal even when he used only one hand like he did now and smiled, resting the bottom of it on the stone floor and turning to Gnarl. "Yeah, it feels… Right, I guess. I like it, a lot, it feels just… Lethal I guess, if I had to place it. Or maybe powerful."

"Yes, Master, that is how weapons are meant to be used, after all." Gnarl snarked, shaking his head in amusement. "Now, as for your armor itself, what manner of armor would you prefer?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want heavy plate and chain, or a simple chain shirt? Do you want to dodge or trade hits? Giblet can make both work, of course, but you need to pick what you want first so I can tell him." Gnarl answered, sounding genuinely helpful for once as he continued to explain, "I do know how to write a rune of strength, so the weight won't be terribly problematic for you, I assure you."

"How do these runes work, though?" Jaune asked while he thought, gently placing the pole-axe on the rack again and looking it over. It looked like a weapon that an old knight in a story might use, even if it was more the dark knight kind. "I thought Minions couldn't use magic and stuff?"

"We can't." Gnarl answered, shrugging, "Or, well, not really or in some massive way that could affect a lot of things. Almost all of it is less using magic and more just asking the Tower Heart to do things for us. The runes serve as messages to it, and then it acts if it wants to."

"So you're just asking the Heart to do the magic on your behalf?" He asked, Gnarl nodding as Jaune returned the gesture and continued to think about what he wanted to wear. Which was an odd way to phrase that internally, of course. "I have an idea for the armor, and you might actually like it, Gnarl."

"Oh boy." Gnarl sighed, sounding less than enthused. "This is just bound to be amusing, at least."

XxX----XxX----XxX

"Hey, Dad!" Ruby almost cheered as soon as her father, looking tired in a variety of ways and nursing his arm still, and her cheer vanished into a face of concern immediately. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Nothing, I just had a close call on a mission is all." He assured her, smiling in spite of the ache in his shoulder and chuckling at her, "Went Grimm clearing up by the old house, and around the old neighborhoods."

"You know you're supposed to be more careful." Ruby chided gently, sighing and shaking her head, "Tell me what happened?"

"Asking for a story?" He asked teasingly, the girl flushing slightly and glaring at him, but not denying the accusation, so he sighed. "Alright, alright. It's a good story, actually. Even has a hero in it. And no, the hero isn't me this time. Unfortunately, I'm sure you will feel."

"Yay, story that's not about you ending up with my sister's mom." Ruby cheered, teasing him in the same moment as he groaned and rolled his eyes. "Go on, tell me about it."

XxX----XxX----XxX


	7. Chapter 7

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"There was once a pair of knights, twins born of nobility from Mistral before the name even existed." Jaune started, sitting on a simple stool Giblet had offered him, Gnarl in the other one the smithing area had and Giblet squatting on the ground while he talked, smiling widely at the idea of hearing a story from his Overlord. "The two knights were young, brave, gallant and full of pride. They were also strong, armed and armored well for the time, and had been paid handsomely for the job ahead of them, much to the delight of the smaller of the two. Their duty, so the story goes, was to journey into the Grimmlands and rescue a princess who had been kidnapped and taken to a tall, evil, dark tower hidden away in the broken lands of the Grimm, under pitch black skies and past swarms of Grimm."

"Sire, you understand we are the evil creatures living in a dark tower, yes?" Gnarl asked, leaning in his hand with his chin in his palm. Jaune gave him a chiding, almost angry but not quite, look and the diminutive creature shrugged, "Just to point out, Master, what side of the story we live on here. Wouldn't want you being confused when you… Sweep in, to save the maiden from the violent thugs, and she is less than pleased at the allies fighting beside you."

"Not a day goes by I don't remember that, Gnarl, believe me on that one. Thanks, though." Jaune sighed, shaking his head and returning to his story, "These two brothers were the same in a lot of ways. They both wore the same kind of armor, carried the same weapons, fought the same way. A simple kite-shield and a plan longsword for each of them, and they were experts in fighting together. Able to slay any Grimm they came across, and best any man they had to fight."

"Eventually, both got tired of being seen as the exact same person, being confused for one another almost to the point that neither of them really existed. So they decided to take their earnings, from tournaments, bounties on Grimm, and everything else, and have two sets of armor made. So that no one could confuse them anymore" Jaune continued, before Gnarl could interrupt again, "One of them, older by a scant few minutes, bought for himself a suit of armor made of chain shined so bright it was practically silver, with a tabard of white hemmed in gold and thick, plated limbs etched with swirling patterns of gold and silver."

"Truly a hero's armor, Master." Gnarl remarked curiously, watching Jaune and smiling as something occurred to him. "I know of these heroes, I think." Jaune raised an eyebrow and he explained, "Long ago, twin knights tried to kill the Overlord. They challenged him to a fight, just those two against himself, and he accepted."

"What happened to them?" Jaune asked, already knowing full well what the answer would be. "In this story they end up dying against a great, dark evil to save a Kingdom. Other than that, it… Doesn't go into much detail. I thought it was just a myth."

"Myths are based on facts, more often than not, Master. Old stories tend to lose some details, and gain some, as time passes." Gnarl shrugged simply, "Anyways, Master, your point? I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"I want to base my armor on that story." He said, Gnarl at first seeming against it, vehemently if Jaune had to guess from his sour expression. That expression changed drastically when he continued, "But not the older brother's style, that wouldn't fit. Who I am now, or what I am probably going to be later. Do you remember the younger brother's armor, Gnarl?"

"Yes… Yes, Master, I remember it quite well." Gnarl smiled, hopping off the seat and looking at him, their eyes equal in height with Jaune sitting on the low stool. "It was black," he started, looking to Giblet and then back to Jaune, "black chainmail and silver etchings along the edges, with a black tabard and silver etched around the borders. Kind of modest, for an Overlord, but-"

"That's just the base, Gnarl." Jaune interrupted, smiling, "I want that, but modified a lot. Into something different, something that fits me. Something that fits Jaune Arc, the Overlord."

"That sounds just perfect, Master. A truly, utterly brilliant plan, befitting of the Overlord in every way." Gnarl almost-purred, the sound echoing in the back of his throat almost like a feral cat. Something primal in Jaune reacted to that, his heart speeding up at it and the sight of the Minion's razor teeth.

Another part of him, the part connected to that Gauntlet on his arm where Mana flowed from and into him, echoed a sort of pride and natural acceptance. When he spoke, his voice was weak, but he covered it up by standing, "Yeah, I like to think I can be brilliant sometimes, Gnarl. Now, let's get to work, I want to finish my armor soon and get back to… Overlording, I guess."

"Of course, Master." Gnarl said, nodding his head eagerly, "Oh, it has been so long since I helped design a set of armor. It's something I quite enjoy, if I am honest, Your Evil Highness."

"Then, uh, I guess I have to apologize to you, Gnarl." He said quietly, the Minion giving him a sour look. For apologizing, Jaune guessed, but moved on without commenting. What, was he supposed to apologize for apologizing? Twice the problem, probably. "I don't need you here, helping design. I need you to design enchantments for my armor, to make it stronger and more useful."

"Do you… Have any enchantments in mind, Lordship?" He asked, sounding only mildly upset at losing the opportunity to work on the armor directly. He perked up after a second, smiling, "Perhaps strength enchantments, to better cleave your enemies apart?"

"And make it able to maintain my temperature, if you can." He smiled, Gnarl blinking at the request, "No matter the temperature, or weather, I want to be able to stand tall and proud. An enemy that doesn't even buckle to the weather? How would that look?"

"Quite intimidating, sire." Gnarl answered, heading towards the main set of stairs before stopping and turning back to him with a toothy grin, "I approve, Master, wholeheartedly, and will get to work immediately, with your leave, of course."

"Of course." He nodded, watching the Minion start to climb the stairs before turning back to Giblet, the Minion bouncing happily on his heels. "Now, let's get to work on this design, alright?"

"Yes, yes, Master!" Giblet squeaked excitedly, clapping his small hands, "And thank you for the story, Master. I liked it a lot! Will you tell me more stories?"

He just rolled his eyes and gave the creature a small, almost paternal, smile and reached out to pat his head. He leaned into it, almost like a dog, and Jaune said, "Maybe later, Giblet. We have work to do, right now."

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Once they set to work, time flew by, and before Jaune knew - and they finished the actual work - five days had flown by without much notice. He stumbled to bed in the night and then rushed to the work area when he woke up, without going anywhere else of note, and both food and water were delivered to him by eager and curious Minions, who tried to weasel their way in to see what their Overlord was doing, but they left reasonably quickly when he made it an order. Obedient little things, the Minions truly were, at least in most respects they were a lot like dogs.

Small, ratty, lizard looking dogs with a sadistic streak… But still.

The armor, when it was finally done, was surprisingly simple for all the time and effort he'd put into trying to design it with Giblet. The chest and hips were protected by a thick hauberk of riveted steel rings, on top of a thick, sleeveless gambeson that did as much to stop chafing as it did anything that might pierce the metal rings. The gambeson was make of dark, thick wool - that he didn't ask Gnarl about where he got it from, because he genuinely probably didn't want to know - and stitched with fine, deft stitching that itself was almost invisible even without the mail over to of it. On top of the mail itself was a thick tabard, almost like a thin shirt, made of the same black material as the gambeson, edged first in dark red and then in sparse fur, white and fluffy. From wolves, Gnarl explained to him when he asked about it, rolling his eyes when Jaune gave him a disbelieving look and explaining that he didn't care enough to lie about it.

Which Jaune accepted, mostly because it was less of a headache.

In the center of the tabard, etched in gold stitching, was a clenched gauntlet like his own, serving as heraldry for himself to be identified and for everyone around him to rally behind. Already, flags were being made and hung around the Tower, and one already hung over the entrance into the smithing area, regardless of Jaune's concerns about fire.

The mail ended just below his waist, hanging loosely there and edged both there and at his shoulders in leather, and held securely by a thick, dark leather belt with a heavy silver buckled on the front, to keep it taught enough to take blows without shifting position and yanking him around. A large knife, slightly longer than Jaune's hand with the fingers pointed straight and half as wide as his palm, hung off his waist where his sword once would have, a comfortable reminder of Crocea Mors. A useful reminder of where he came from and where he wanted to eventually go, to his mind, and a useful tool at any rate.

Attached at the shoulders of the gambeson were thick leather sleeves that reached down to his wrists, fastened there with an adjustable leather pull string that he tucked into the sleeve, to keep him warm and keep the leather secure to protect himself better. On top of the thick, dark leather sleeves, themselves decent enough protection against lighter strikes, layered steel attached to segments of chainmail, almost like an armband from his school days crossed with plated mail, protected his upper arms. Each individual plate was colored dark as the stone around him even now, outlined in dull silver that made it stand out alongside the chainmail and the black leather bands at the top and bottom of the segments of silver steel chain, tight enough to hold the armor in place without pinching.

His forearms were left mostly untouched, his Gauntlet protected his left hand already and he didn't want to impair his dexterity with his other, so he left the leather alone to protect his right forearms and added a thin leather glove, with plates on the back and down the backs of the fingers for a bit of added safety to protect his hand. His shoulders were left asymmetrical, at Giblet's suggestion actually, with the right only covered by a short, studded piece of leather like a pauldron, just large enough to cover his shoulder if he didn't raise his arm straight up in the air. The other shoulder, over his gauntlet, though was more heavily armored by a thick, steel pauldron big enough that if he faced it towards the enemy it effectively served to protect his entire upper arm, carved in black-colored steel with silver etchings accenting the edges of a snarling Beowolf's maw.

The first Grimm he ever slew himself, now a permanent symbol of himself.

His legs were similar hs arms, thick leather breeches with comfortable cotton underneath - though he had no idea where that came from either, and didn't bother asking further after the first shrug of Giblet's small shoulders - made of the same dark material as the sleeves, but open around his ankles. Large, thick metal plates covered the fronts of his legs, both the upper half and the lower, and large, silver-steel kneepads protected the front of his knees. He kept his heavy boots for the set itself, so those didn't need any effort into them.

Then, finally, there was his helmet. Something Gnarl insisted had to be absolutely perfect, because apparently it served as his mark of 'dignity' like his Gauntlet served as a mark of his power. Still, it was a rather simple thing, little more than a dark steel great helmet, with a wide visor to look out of that left only his eyes visible along with part of the skin around them, enough holes on the right side of the face of it to let him breathe without trouble. Under that he wore an arming cap and a light mail coif, the back hanging out over his shoulders and the back of his neck for even more added protection.

When its crafting was finished, and he was satisfied with how it looked on the mannequin with his poleaxe next to it, Gnarl came to see him. The small Minion carried a heavy looking book, and on top of it a second book, both with heavy leather binding. One he set aside and the other he handed to Jaune, while the Minion looked over the suit of armor approvingly.

"This is yours, Master, and I see your armor is finally ready." Jaune nodded, smiling in spite of how tired he was, and the Minion grimaced, "About time. It's been days of this. Are you quite satisfied with it now, Lordship?"

"Yeah, I… It works, I think." He answered, opening the book the Minion had given him and flipping through a few pages, "A blank book?"

"A journal book, Master." Gnarl corrected, smiling in amusement and shaking his head, "It helps an Overlord stay focused, I have found after all this time, and keeps them centered. Which sounds awfully like some kind of hippy Elf garbage, I know, and I thought so too when it was suggested to me."

"What changed your mind?" He asked quietly, shelving for now the question on 'elves'. When Gnarl gave him a look, he added, "You don't seem to change your mind often, or you don't seem like the kind of person who would, I guess."

"After I… questioned him quite intensely on some important things, I put his suggestions into practice and it did wonders for myself. And then I suggested it to the Overlord of the time, and he quite enjoyed it." He answered, handing the book to Giblet carefully, "Put these over there, and prepare to begin enchanting the armor. Silently, and now, Giblet."

"What are we doing next?" He asked, the Minion looking up at him and sighing.

"We are doing nothing, Master. You are going to leave us be while we finish everything up on your behalf, and get some rest. Tomorrow, you ought to return to that silly little human stone cutting camp." Gnarl explained, sounding tired of them for some reason. Probably because they kept on living and doing things when he didn't need them, if Jaune had to guess, "The Minions have been keeping the Grimm away, at your orders, of course, but… That isn't the sole threat in the world, to those sorts of people, Master."

"What do you mean?" He asked, following Gnarl a few steps away, towards the stairs. "What's going on with the stonecutters? Is everyone okay, Gnarl?"

"For now, yes, Master. No one has been injured by them just yet, because they have paid up to the bandit's demands." Gnarl answered, sounding entirely unconcerned with the turn of events, "That animal-person, Sean, he sent word through a Minion yesterday evening while you rested of it. Deserters, apparently, of some military expedition or something that fell apart almost before it set out."

"And I am just now finding this out?" Jaune shouted, finding his voice loud as it echoed in the mostly silent room. Swallowing he pressed on, playing the role of Overlord he knew the Minion wanted him to be at least partially, "You didn't think to tell me that people under my protection were being mugged?"

"Extorted, sire." Gnarl corrected simply, Jaune sighing aggressively at the words. "The difference is minor, yes, but one worth noting to me. And yes, Master, you are just now finding this out, because you have neglected to so much as request a report for days. So I let you finish your work before bringing you a report I received yesterday evening."

"Whatever, Gnarl." He snapped, shaking his head and looking at him, "Get the Minions ready, we'll go out there and-"

"Find nothing, Master. Not right now, at least, late as it is." Gnarl interrupted, "THey come by once a day in the afternoon, not now as late as it is. You would get there and accomplish nothing except leaving yourself with less armor and a weaker weapon. So I suggest you get some sleep, while we get the enchantments onto the armor, and march out tomorrow with the Minions."

Jaune was quiet for a long time, thinking about the Minion's suggestion before he sighed, "Fine, Gnarl. Fine. But I want a dozen Minions around the work camp, keeping an eye out but staying hidden. If they show up, I want to know, and we are heading that way immediately. Will my armor be ready in time?"

"Yes, Master, and I will send a Minion to get your orders dealt with immediately." The Head Minion answered, nodding his head at the taller Overlord respectfully and concedingly at the same time, "Tomorrow you can make your new debut, and it will be against men. Fighting men, at that, Lordship. You will need both your rest and your better equipment, or I fear for your life if you face them."

"Didn't know you cared." Jaune groused, the Minion opening his mouth with some snide remark in return, "I know you don't, Gnarl. It is just a turn of phrase, that's all, so forget it okay? You're right, though. I need some rest and better weapons to deal with actual people. Especially soldiers."

"I am simply glad you think my counsel worth listening to, Lordship. I hope you sleep well, and wish you luck tomorrow as well." Gnarl answered, Jaune simply grunting a response and heading up the stairs. Once he was gone, the Head Minion turned to Giblet and smiled, "Gather enough Minions for the needed enchantments and enhancements, Giblet. And so so quietly, without our Lord realizing."

"B-But the Overlord should-"

"The Overlord is unwilling to do the dirtier things about his title, just yet at least." Gnarl cut him off, the other creature shrinking in on itself unsurely. "We must ensure that the Overlord achieves his full potential, in spite of his petty moral qualms. Not doing so would practically be treason. Are you a traitor, Giblet?"

"No!" The smith-Minion answered suddenly, waving his hands erratically, "Giblet is loyal, Giblet will get it done for the Overlord. Yes, don't worry about it, I will go and do it right now."

"Good, now go." Gnarl ordered, pointing at the exit with a gnarled finger, the craft-Minion nodding almost eagerly now at the orders as they came. "And remember to be careful, and quiet, you blasted fool. The Overlord must be kept in the dark, for his own good, before his foolish moral concerns get him killed."

The next day, Jaune returned to the smithy early in the morning with a certain kind of nervous eagerness and energy, finding Gnarl scratching out notes in his book idly with his chin in his palm about something Jaune didn't care about, and Giblet polishing spots on his armor, and the Overlord called, "Good morning, Gnarl. Is everything ready?"

"Yes, Master." The Minion replied dryly, turning to give Giblet an odd look, "Everything is completely prepared to as near perfection as one can hope. Now we need only get the armor on you, and head out."

"The Minions are ready?" Jaune asked as he descended the stairs and walked towards the armor on its rack, "You got them all ready for a real fight?"

"Yes, Master." Gnarl answered, rising from the low stool he had been sitting on and closing his book, leaving it on the floor by the stool. "The Minions are armed as best we can manage, and all that is left is for you to lead the way there yourself." The Minion waved a hand at him, smiling that toothy little grin, "All that is left now, Lordship, is for you to lead them into battle yourself."

"Then let's get going." Jaune nodded, picking up the great helmet and testing its weight in his hand, his voice low and nervous. "We have work to do, and obligations to meet."

"And women to sweep away to your Tower, yes, Master." Gnarl teased lightly, shuffling up to his side. "That woman, for instance, seemed quite interested in you. Perhaps you should see about… producing an heir, eh, Master?"

"God damn it, Gnarl…" He sighed, shaking his head, "I'm not… there aren't any women that want to-to do that stuff with me, stop messing around."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"We have a week to decide on a mission, Ruby, stop stressing out over it so much." Weiss chided her gently, sitting at the table beside the door of their dorm and working on some homework. "If you want to take the mission, then do it, and we'll go out there and do our best."

"Yeah, Sis, not like it's life or death." Yang offered from the bed, skimming an article on her Scroll and smiling at her flustered little sister, "Just a training mission. There'll be a professor there and everything, so we won't be in any real danger. And 'sides that, we're badass huntresses, right? We can take it."

"Don't you think you're being a touch cavalier about all this, Xiao Long?" Weiss berated her, turning in her chair to give the blonde brawler a look, her brow raised and her lips pinched, "There is a good deal of danger involved, even in a training mission and even with a professor there. To our grades and our bodies both."

"I think what Yang meant was that we could handle it, as long as we took it seriously, and I agree." Blake offered, smiling ever so slightly when Yang gave her a thumbs up and nod in agreement. "We are well trained, and will be accompanied. If something dangerous occurs, we can just withdraw."

"And if that fails as well, then our chaperone will no doubt be able to help us get away. Yes, Blake, I understand completely." Weiss countered, not really arguing in her tone even if her words themselves were a touch more aggressive sounding. "I was just saying that our resident ditzy blonde - shut up, you know it's true," she added when Yang made an offended face and sat up, "I was saying that she was a touch too cavalier."

"Guys," Ruby sighed, smiling at the display even if it didn't help her, sitting on her bunk and stresing over the decision, "not helping."

"Decide what you will, Ruby." Weiss said simply, shrugging her slender shoulders, "We have enough trust in you to make the decision. If you seek our council, everyone involved says we can handle it, so you have that answered at the very least."

"I'm just worried, after…" She didn't finish, but everyone knew what she was referring to, and Blake was the one to surprise them and speak up.

"We won't be another Jaune, Ruby." She assured, sounding gentle for once out of some kind of sympathy rather than anything else. Even though Ruby didn't know where it would be coming from, she was grateful as the brunette continued, "We are all competent fighters, and have learned well enough how to fight together. As long as that stays true, and we trust each other, we should be fine."

"Long and short," Yang offered, "Make your call, we'll back it. We got your back no matter what, Rubes, so don't stress so much. Gotta get back out there or you'll never be past this, you know?"

"Okay, then." Ruby sighed, pressing a button on her Scroll and tossing it on the bed next to her. Sucking in a huge breath, she blew it out and smiled, saying, "Mountain Glenn, here we come, I guess. Never heard of the place, though."

"Oobleck is the guy leadin' the mission, so we'll learn plenty." Yang assured her, shrugging and hopping up, "So don't worry about that, sis. Kay?" She said, sauntering towards the bathroom lazily. "Now I'm gonna grab a shower before-"

"I get first shower today, you blonde buffoon!" Weiss interrupted suddenly, standing and kicking her chair into the blonde's path in the same move. "It's my turn. We drew straws to start the rotation, on your idea, so don't try to cheat now."

Ruby rolled her eyes, picking up her Scroll again and flipping open a search engine, typing in Mountain Glenn and hitting enter on the search engine. Ruby Rose was not going to get caught off guard by anything, not again if she could help it.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The Impossible Muffin :

No to both questions. At least, not anytime soon. On either count.

Lohamigos :

Not yet, no, they aren't glowing. That will come in time, though.

Alvelvnor :

Meshed your idea with Lohamigos and some tweaks, y'all had some good input that got my creati


	8. Chapter 8

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"One of the Minion scouts returning came with the news, Sire." Gnarl explained as they walked quickly through the halls of the Tower. Around him Minions busied themselves shuffling from place to place, most carrying or going to get their makeshift spears and swords and tiny shield, and their fur jackets, "Apparently, with the absence of Grimm thanks to our forces, they thought they could move in without any problems. Most Huntsman wouldn't bother dealing with simple bandits, or whatever these fools are at any rate, when they weren't contracted to the job, especially when the main people benefitting are Faunus, at least according to Shaun. Quite a selfish, discriminatory lot, they seem to be, Master, in any event."

"Some of them, I guess." Jaune had to admit, if a bunch of bandits or whatever thought they'd get easy Lien out of people under his protection. Just because they were Faunus, at that, and that particularly gnawed at him. Growling, Jaune asked, "What do we know, Gnarl? Are there a lot of them, are they well-equipped?"

"They seem to be, Master." Gnarl nodded as they went, headed towards the smithy to retrieve his newly enchanted and finished armor, "They're wearing uniforms lined in wool, and are 'White Fang', according to Shaun at least. Around two dozen of them, usually six or so head to the camp for shakedowns. Some assorted small calibre rifles, and crappy swords, and not much else to speak of. Tents and the like to sleep in, and the idiots didn't even fortify."

"Probably figured I kept the Grimm away, and the workers wouldn't fight people armed with guns." Jaune sighed, shaking his head, "Shaun and his people have guts, and they aren't afraid of a fight, but… Not much they can do against assault rifles, I guess."

"They could take up some ammo, at least." Gnarl offered sarcastically, shrugging when Jaune gave him a sour look, "Could does not mean should, Master, I am not suggesting they throw themselves in front of their guns and waste what little to offer us they might have." He grumbled a, "Would be amusing to watch, at the least, though…"

"Gnarl…"

"Yes, yes, Master. I know." The Minion sighed, almost sounding wistful, "I have been under many Overlords who enjoyed naught but bloodbaths on any and every side. And while that is inordinately amusing, and all around a grand time, I know that it doesn't truly lead up to owning vast expanses of land, or governing loyal subjects."

"Kinda hard to govern them if they are dead, yeah." Jaune agreed, shaking his head, "The Minions are ready, though, right? This isn't a fight with mindless Grimm, you know. I… I'm a bit nervous, I guess, about the whole thing."

"You've never fought people, I take it?" Gnarl asked, sounding genuinely curious and almost sympathetic for once. When Jaune nodded, he returned the gesture, "Many Overlords employ me as a confidante as well as the leader of the Minions, Master. This, at the least, is a concern I actually understand after all these years. Such nervousness is common enough, Master."

"It is?" He asked, stopping at the bottom of the stairs into the forge and turning to look at Gnarl hopefully, "How did they get over it, then, Gnarl?"

"Simply by doing their jobs, Master." The Minion shrugged, chuckling when Jaune looked disappointed, "Master, were you nervous when you went to battle against those petty dogs before, the… What where they called, again?"

"Beowolves." Jaune offered, the Minion nodding eagerly at the offered information.

"Yes, yes, those!" He settled down, tilting his head to the side almost cutely - on any other creature in the world, probably, at least - and continuing, "Anyways, Lordship, were you nervous when you went out to fight those creatures as well?"

At Jaune's nod, the Minion shrugged and said, "And now you aren't so afraid of fighting them, are you, Master?" Not waiting for an answer this time, the Minion concluded, "This is the same, Lordship. Crack some skulls, spill some blood, and it'll all start coming easier to you in time. That, I know for a fact."

"I guess you would probably know." Jaune sighed, looking at his armor on its pedestal in the center of the forge area, right where he'd left it. "How'd the armor turn out? Doesn't look any different, or anything like that."

"Enchantments are not a visible thing, usually, Master." Gnarl sighed tiredly, shuffling past him towards the weapon and armor and gesturing at the former, "This one is simple enough. The enchantments levied on it will allow you to summon a gout of fire and project it forward about five feet or so. The flames aren't that intense, but are more than enough to light clothing not ready for it ablaze and frighten an unwary opponent."

"Sounds useful." Jaune complimented, looking the poleaxe over and, as expected, seeing absolutely no difference in its appearance whatsoever. "Anything else?"

"It also has a very short range Portal rune." Gnarl held up a hand when Jaune opened his mouth, quickly adding, "Master, be careful with using it. The magic will let you move to the weapon, yes, but anything over thirty feet and you will be exhausted afterwards. Only teleport to your weapon or, when you have it on hand, to a Portal-stone to return here. It isn't designed for anything else."

"I understand." Jaune nodded, "To the poleaxe, or with the poleaxe to a Portal-stone, and nowhere else. Got it."

"The armor is simpler still," Gnarl continued, "It will shield you from temperature problems, within reason, and make you stronger when you wear it as well. I considered enchantments against fire damage, but given that we currently exist in a literal snowscape with no sources of fire-based threats it seemed… A waste, Master."

"Makes sense." Jaune nodded, sighing and pulling his shirt off, "Fine, let's get this going already. Wasted enough time as it is, I don't want to burn more just sitting around and not doing anything."

"We need to settle on a plan of attack first, Master." Gnarl pointed out, quickly suggesting his own, "If I may suggest, Master, I think the best way to do this would be for you to head on your own to protect the work-camp. Put in an appearance, make a show of it, you know what I mean. And the Minions can head to their camp, and wipe it from existence."

"You think I can handle whatever's there on my own?" The young Overlord asked, sounding as nervous as he felt, "I don't think I'm that confident just yet."

"Take an echelon of Minions with you, then, Master." Gnarl shrugged, "But I do think we ought deal with both these threats at once, lordship. The last thing you want is for them to call for their allies elsewhere to come here and face you themselves. Where they choose to, and when they choose to."

"That could be bad, yeah." Jaune agreed, "But they're terrorists, and they do a lot in Atlas, so I'll probably end up fighting them anyways no matter what I do."

"All the better to go to them, then, if you truly wish to fight them." Gnarl coached gently, more than wary of a fight being waged near the Tower if this went the wrong way. He'd seen that often enough, and didn't have a wish to end the fun so swiftly, "I shall order the Minions to take a few prisoners, and question them myself, as well. That should get some direction for us towards plans you might wish to… Discourage, Master."

"And now I'm kidnapping people to beat information out of them, am I?" Jaune sighed, shaking his head and laying a hand on his new armor, feeling the cool metal under his fingers and frowning. "But… Not much option, I guess. Do it, Gnarl. I'll leave their campto you, and the prisoners as well."

"Your trust in me is humbling, Master." Gnarl practically purred in that same predatory, hair-raising way he sometimes did, bowing his head slightly, "I shall endeavor not to fail you in any way, this much I swear to you, my Lord."

"I figured." Jaune answered, "Now help me get this armor on, would you? We have a lot of work to do."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"We can't-" The hand struck her across the jaw hard enough to throw her to the ground at Shaun's feet, the foreman's knuckles turning white on the grip of his pickaxe at the sight, and his teeth grating when she rolled onto her hands and knees and spat blood onto the snow, growling, "That wasn't necessary."

"You were mouthin' me, and I felt like it. Makes it necessary far as I care, you understand?" The large Faunus answered, voice rumbling in his chest threateningly, followed by a chuckle as he waved at the four other White Fang soldiers milling about behind him, leering down at her from behind his mask, "You look good like that, you know. I could get used to seein' a pretty human like you on your knees. S'good for morale, you understand? Don't mind do you, for morale you know?"

"...No." She ground out, saying as she was and glaring at the ground, "I don't mind."

"No." Shaun snapped, slamming the bottom of his pickaxe into the snow and stone, snarling, "This is too far, get up, Emilia. I won't let these bastards-"

A massive hand slammed into his head, driving him to the ground beside her, and behind him the workers recoiled at the vicious blow. The Faunus leaned up on his elbows, looking up at the one who had struck him as he spoke, "Side with the Humans all you want, slave, but don't you dare tell me what to do, or I will do much worse to this Human whore."

"You son-of-a-"

"Enough, Shaun. Enough, please." Emilia cut him off, eyes closed and resigned by now even as her teeth ground. "Please, Sir, if you take any more Lien then I won't have enough to even feed the workers here."

"Then they should come to us, where they'll get fed and paid well, shouldn't they?" She didn't answer, and after a moment, the bear of a man growled, resting the curve of his sword across the backs of her shoulders, the curve resting on the back of her neck threateningly, "Shouldn't they?"

"They-"

"And what do you all think you're doing?" A voice demanded loudly, the White Fang turning to look towards the entryway into the camp a dozen yards away. The figure there slammed a poleaxe into the snow hard enough it cracked into the stone and stood on its own, and he crossed his arms, "Looks like they don't like how you're treating them. Maybe you should apologize?"

"Maybe I should put them on their backs instead?" The man bellowed, turning from Emilia and stomping a couple steps closer, brandishing his sword threateningly while his cohorts spread out around him, a rifle and sword to each side. "Would you prefer that, whoever the hell you are?"

"You know, I really don't like people like you." Jaune responded, plucking the poleaxe from the stone with his right hand, letting it hang in his hand as he walked forward, a silent signal to the Minions behind the wall where they hid to emerge. A dozen climbed the short stone wall, dropping into the snow with snarls and makeshift weapons gripped tight in their claws, and the White Fang there noticed, as Jaune continued, "Neither do my... Friends, I suppose you could call them."

Giving an overly theatric spin of his axe, and trying not to laugh at the rehearsed theatrics Gnarl had insisted he give a chance, and the Minions arrayed themself in loose, staggered lines to either side, "And we have you outnumbered, as you can tell. By about double, though I didn't do too well in math class back in the day."

"Now you need to understand this, Human," the Faunus leader started, stomping even closer as his wary troops followed suit and Shaun took the chance to haul a very stunned looking Emilia to her feet and shoved her towards the workers, "We are the White Fang, and we will not be insulted by some cocky Human in shoddy armor. Even with… Whatever the hell those things are at your heels."

"You talk too much." Jaune said, shrugging his armored shoulders and sweeping the halberd in front of him, sending a surge of Mana through it as he went and sending a gout of flames in a wide arc in front of him.

The flames were weak, and cold comparatively, but they were also bright enough that the enemies couldn't see through them. The loud snap of several rifles bursting shots cracked out as his Minions surged forward and through the fire, silent all the way, and Jaune flinched when he heard one glance off his shoulder, jerking him to the side, and he couldn't stifle his surprised yelp. He heard similarly surprised, and then pained, cries from the other side of the wall of flames and steam from the melting snow, both obscuring his vision almost entirely.

Then he himself stepped through the fire, and past the dead or dying Faunus as the Minions finished them off and dragged their bodies away. Simple, clean, and quick, with only a single Minion lying on the cold, snowy stone unmoving from a lucky shot that tore open its throat.

And judging by the looks from the workers, he'd made a very strong impression on them once again, with the decisiveness of the attack and his new, much more impressive outfit.

"O-Overlord?" Emilia whispered, lip still bleeding, her eyes glancing to the Minions, "What are-"

"Minions." He explained simply, surprised at how steady his voice was when it came out, holding up his Gauntlet for her to see, "They serve me, and I command them through this. I brought some here, to deal with whoever wasn't at their camp. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, Emilia, are you alright?"

"I-I…" She sucked in a breath of the frigid air, shook once bodily with Shaun's arms bracing her, and pulled away from the Faunus, "I am fine, Overlord, merely… Surprised, that's all. Your arrival was so sudden, and these creatures as well, and to have our problems so soundly and immediately resolved… It took a moment to catch up to me, and to process as well, that is all."

"Are you sure?" he asked, stepping closer and laying his lighter-armored hand on her shoulder, watching her through his helmet worriedly until she nodded and he turned, looking around the camp, "What did they want? This is a stoneworking camp, what could they possibly come here for?"

"Lien." Shaun answered, "And a lot of it. First day, they thought we'd be friendly to 'em, told us they were here on orders from some dickhead named Taurus, down south. Didn't get much after that, though, they realized too quick we weren't quite as friendly as they hoped."

"Gnarl will find out more." Jaune responded as the workers dispersed, more milling about nearby than seeking to work. He was grateful for the privacy, such as it was. Emilia gave him a confused look, though, and he explained, "Gnarl is my Head Minion. Kind of a… second in command, you know? Helps lead the Minions."

"And he is…" Emilia swallowed, watching the fallen Minion be dragged away by its heels, and Jaune stepped between them before she finished, "And this 'Gnarl', he's leading your, uh, Minions against the other camp? The White Fang one, I mean."

"Yes." Jaune answered, resting the butt of his poleaxe on the stone with a quiet clank and clang of steel on stone, "And he has instructions to capture some of them, for questioning."

"What then?" She asked suddenly, Jaune blinking behind his helmet. She took another breath, this time steadying herself more, and she asked, "What happens when you finish… Questioning them? Are you going to report it to the Atlesian military?"

His silence was answer enough, and Shaun asked next, "You're going to do something else about it, then?"

"You and your people, Emilia, you're under my protection." Jaune said simply, voice low and almost angry, a strange emotion washing over him as he once again saw her bruised lip. Something angry, possessive, and full of other emotions he couldn't begin to understand ot identify. "You are under my protection, and these terrorists came here to rob you, and hurt you. That will not stand."

"I'm not paying you to fight the White Fang." Emilia stated, voice tight but eyes sharp and locked onto his own, narrowing at something there she couldn't possibly be seeing, "New armor or not, literally flamethrower or not, army of hell-spawn and glowing eyes or not, you can't think to fight the entire White Fang yourself. Not seriously."

"Overlord is a title, not a name, Emilia. And it carries burdens all on its own, beyond what my word would normally demand." Jaune assured her quietly, quashing that strange fire he felt and the questions over some of what she'd said as best he could manage for the moment. "My Minions will bulk up their numbers in the area for a while, until I'm sure that no one else is coming to cause you problems. Do you need anything else?"

"Thank you, Overlord." Emilia said simply, after a moment's pause where she seemed to jump from one thing to say to another. "Good luck, and I hope you fare well in your fight. But..." this came quieter, her eyes avoiding his armored face, "Be careful, Overlord. Don't get into a fight all by yourself that you can't win."

"I'm the Overlord, Emilia. Whatever I face, I can beat." He answered simply, shrugging his armored shoulders and snorting a laugh, "The Minions will construct a small Teleport-stone shrine nearby, which will connect to the Tower and have a Minion on guard at it at all times. If you need anything, send word to it, and I will come to help you."

The decision was out of nowhere, but he didn't brook any room for argument as he turned and strode away, back out of the work-camp.

He needed to ask Gnarl a few things.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"The eyes signify that Mana has suffused with you more fully, which is probably just from the enchantments on your armor, Master." Gnarl explained, standing in the throne room and looking quite impatiently at Jaune, who himself sat upon his throne with his helmet on one of the arms. "As for the emotions you spoke of… I don't really know one way or the other. Apologies, Master."

"Helpful." Jaune grumbled, "Really, that's a helpful answer, Gnarl." When the Minion simply nodded, an apologetic expression on his face, Jaune sighed, "Alright, abandoning that line of questions, then. What do you have for me?"

"The group known as 'The White Fang', or at least the Vale branch of it, sent little groups of people all over the place to try and get as much Lien as they could manage." Gnarl started easily, stepping closer to the throne to speak more easily, "The Lien, apparently, is to purchase every speck of Dust that they can manage for… Something, happening near to the Kingdom of Vale proper."

"How near?" He asked quietly, metal fingers drumming a tinny staccato on the stone of his throne and thinking to himself the oddity of that. "I have friends in Vale, Gnarl, few as they might be. And family in the periphery settlements, too."

"There's an old attempted expansion to the Kingdom, apparently, called Mountain Glenn. The Dust is being delivered there, by any means possible, including using a Human thief named Roman Torchwick." Gnarl grimaced and, after a second, added, "The White Fang Master… They do not work with Humans, your Lordship. And Roman has no less than four Human associated with him, aiding them, to some end."

"One is odd, but five… And you are sure these are Humans, and that the White Fang normally refuses to work with them under any circumstances?" Jaune sighed, shaking his head when Gnarl nodded, "Something is going to happen in Vale, and soon. But what can we do about it?"

"Not much, Master. Anything we have that could stand as proof will require us to put ourselves in a position that exposes everything we are." Gnarl explained simply, Jaune nodding. "Any smart option involves us staying here, building our strength, and accepting whatever comes, Master. Vale's concern isn't ours, and moving to aid them would be the stupid thing to do."

He understood, and his life was on the line, if the Tower should be attacked. He and it were connected, he knew it. He felt it, down to his bones and in his gut.

"Then we do the stupid thing, and we do it well." He responded, taking a long, deep breath that swelled in his chest. Gnarl made a face, and Jaune continued, "I will go to Mountain Glenn, and find out what they are planning. If I have to, I will intervene. But only if I have to, otherwise I will just be scouting."

"The Browns are unsuited for this, My Lord." Gnarl finally said after several long moments, swallowing and shrugging, "I had meant to have this done sooner or later, but… Sire, you needs to retrieve the Green Minion Hive. They are the ones most suited to anything sneaky and subtle like this, you understand, Master."

"And where is it?" He asked tiredly, shaking his heat as he rose and plucked the helmet from his throne, striding past the Minion towards the Portal-pool. "I won't wait, not when a single week could mean a tragedy I could have prevented." He stopped, turning on his heel and jabbing a pointed, armored finger at the stone floor meaningfully, "This throne, this Tower, all of it means nothing to me if I can't change things."

"Then it is quite a good thing indeed that the Green Hive is but a few minutes from Mountain Glenn, at least if the map one of our guests made is accurate." Gnarl responded, shuffling to stand beside his young Master and looking up at him, "So go, Master, and gather these servants to you, and then use them to stop whatever it is those morons are cooking up. That is what I encourage you to do."

"That sounds dangerously like a good idea, Gnarl." Jaune quipped, continuing towards the Portal at the end of his throne room.

"I do hope it doesn't detract from your doing the stupid thing, Master." The Minion countered, chuckling quietly. "I shall oversee the construction of the Portal-Shrine you promised in your absence, though you will need to personally connect it to the network when you return. Assuming, I mean, that we even can get it connected to the network."

"You'll figure it out." Jaune asserted, turning to the Portal and rolling his shoulders, "I'm off, wish me luck."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Come on, Zwei, just find a spot and go already." Ruby whined quietly, Crescent Rose's absence doing absolute wonders for the nervousness she felt, watching the happy little Corgi jog across the road and turn to yap at her happily at an old corner in front of an equally old and broken down food place. "This is such a bad idea…"

She made it only a few steps before she heard a crack under her feet and froze, looking down in fear and swallowing as cracks spider-webbed under her. Hearing a worried yip, she looked up, holding out a hand, "Okay, Zwei, I need you to go back to the others, wake up my sister, and-"

She couldn't help the surprised, squeal that broke through her lips as the old pavement crumbled and broke, the young girl falling through and into the blackness beneath. She barely managed to break her fall, hitting the hard ground with a flare of pain and a squeak, scrabbling on the cold concrete. She had barely managed to get to her feet, shaky from the hard landing, when she heard a door open and turned.

And stared at two uniformed White Fang soldiers, clutching rifles and staring at her for what felt like forever, and she smiled awkwardly, "U-Uh, hi? So, sorry to, you know, fall through the ceiling. If you, uh, just point me to how to leave-"

"Freeze, Human!" One bellowed, closing the distance with her and shoving his rifle in her face. She swallowed, bringing her fists up and then swinging. The fist impacted the mask with no discernible impact, and the Faunus chuckled, "What was that, little girl?"

"Uh…" She swallowed, hand lowering slowly, "Sorry?"

"You will be." He answered, slamming the butt of his rifle into her jaw, throwing her to the floor in an unconscious heap. She barely registered his chuckle, and hands under her arms, before she lost consciousness entirely.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Eren Jaeger 17 :

Yeah, about all that…. Surprise? Also, another cliffhanger. Sorry not sorry.

Alvelvnor :

Of course, go right ahead. We don't mind a lick.

The Impossible Muffin :

I'm an atheist, the power of Christ does nothing here. And you have to sacrifice Minions for most enchantments. That's what Gnarl worries Jaune would hate.


	9. Chapter 9

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Last time Jaune had been anywhere near Vale, he'd been sweating so hard that he thought he might die. Again. He'd dealt with it admirably, he thought, and mostly ignored it until he got to Tai's house and its blessed air-conditioning, but still, he'd been hot and then freezing when he returned home to the Tower, and had to deal with blisteringly cold winds breezing in through the balcony the Portal-pool was next to.

Honestly, whoever the bright guy was who had made that decision needed a nice, hard slap to the back of the head. With a mace, preferably, several times until they understood the severity of their mistake.

The cave had probably been part of the building, judging from the crumbled columns he'd seen on the way up, coated in natural rock and dirt both but with the dark pale stone brickwork still visible underneath. The roof of the cave, too, showed signs of an old construction of some kind, and Jaune was starting to learn how to spot them. Flatter than normal, with a scant few bricks visible around the stone that had built up over the centuries since the place had been abandoned.

Behind him, the old Portal-Stone rested, set into the natural rock now with everything else thrown aside by the Portal's whirl of energy and power, which had kicked up an annoying amount of dust. Even that had look… Worn and cracked, though, the stone weathered in a way some others weren't, probably from the time passed. He'd never stopped at the others to look, though. Scratches were chiseled along this one's surface, shallow and likely nothing to worry about.

Aside from the remnants of the stonework he'd seen as he made his way through the cave, though, nothing much else was left. Outside, he could barely even see any of the signs he'd seen inside. No brickwork, and certainly nothing else, was left to show any sign of the ancient civilization that had built this place, at an Overlord's bidding or not.

"How old is this place?" He asked, looking around at spare woodlands, made up of sparse brush and thick, tall pines that towered into the sky. Like Atlas, in a lot of ways, but with short grass and foliage on the ground, and thicker looking bushes and shrubs around him, some clustered around the mouth of the cave that he forced himself through. "There's nothing around here, at all… The one back on Patch had more than this."

"That one was in an area that stayed rather more settled than this one, Master." Gnarl explained, Jaune nodding at the idea. "Isolated on an island so bigger beasties can't get there terribly easily, and full of game, it makes sense that Patch would be more immediately apparent in having squatters. This is… a rather barren mountain, now, it seems. Which makes sense, given what happened."

"What happened?" He asked, hesitating for a moment at the mouth of the cave, more out of curiosity than any real worry. Whatever happened, it did so little over a thousand years ago at least, and Jaune wasn't worried about it.

"A battle, Lordship." Gnarl answered simply, actually managing to sound upset for once. Which was strange, coming from the Minion, or at least the kind of sadness was. "A Grimm Incursion came, and the Overlord before you went to face it, to defend his holdings here and the people living in them. The battle lasted several days, if my memory is reliable, and ended with the Grimm dead, almost all of the Minions fallen, and our Overlord lying in the mud, dead."

"He died a hero, then." Jaune complimented, feeling the weight of his Gauntlet on his arm more than ever, remembering the dream he'd had, his first night in the Tower after he'd died and been brought back by Gnarl. "Vale… Vale probably only exists because of his stand here, defending against the Grimm. Gnarl?"

"Quite right, Lordship." Gnarl growled, the sound tremoring in his ears angrily. "And for it, he was remembered for all of a generation, before becoming naught but a petty tyrant in their memories. Even that faded soon enough, and now no one really knows of him aside from a few scattered fairy tales and myths surrounding what he did."

"That isn't why you do heroic things, Gnarl. I mean, that's a crappy thing to happen after what he did, but… It was a bad time, for people, I mean. Good records only go back about six hundred years or so, that's what history class taught me." Jaune argued weakly, unable to bring himself to hold the Head Minion's words against him. When the creature didn't answer his explanations, or excuses as they felt to Jaune, the young Overlord sighed, "Just… Which way do I go to get to Mountain Glenn?"

"East, Lordship." The Minion answered, sounding cheary enough now that they were moving on. "You will have to hike for a time, around the mountain, and then you'll see the ruined settlement. The Gauntlet will let you know when you are close to the Hive, and it's on the way."

"How far?" He asked, already moving towards the edge of the ridge, treetops visible over it already.

"Long enough that I shall take a short nap, Master." Gnarl answered, the blonde Overlord blinking in confusion at the answer. "I shall return in a scant couple hours, and sincerely hope to hear of your success upon my return. Best of luck, your most grand Evilness."

"Gnarl, you aren't being serious right now, are you?" When the creature didn't respond to that, or the several repeated calls of his name, Jaune sighed and shook his head. "Dust damn it, you aggravating little… Gah!"

Deciding to push his aggravation aside, ad knowing that Gnarl was too valuable to punt off the Tower's balcony, Jaune settled for moving to the edge of the ridge to look around. And he wasn't disappointed, which eased some of the aggravation of being deserted by his literal guide to what was supposed to be his objective. Regardless of if the Gauntlet would help, Gnarl was supposed to stay on hand in case he needed him for… Something, even if Jaune wasn't sure what that would be.

It's not like he could screw up that much just heading in a general direction in a mostly empty forest. And maybe Gnarl leaving him to handle it on his own was a show of faith in him, or as much as the Head Minion could display faith for… Anything at all.

Jaune was somewhat surprised when he put a foot on the edge of the ridge, leaning on his knee and looking out, and actually saw Vale. Sort of, at least. So far away he could scarcely make it out, he could see Vale's towering walls across a sea of forest green, great pines that towered a couple hundred feet in the air easily. Even they were dwarfed by the wall of Vale, though, which themselves towered hundreds of feet higher, built like the castle walls of old with towers, battlements and flags visible even from here, but magnified in size to a ridiculous degree and then modernized.

The forest between Jaune and the wall sloped with the mountain valley and the mountains themselves, the latter curving out to either side of the mountain Jaune stood on himself. The valley itself was massive and wide, easily a hundred miles long and half that from the base of the mountains on one side to the other, full of the thick pines on the mountain slopes and more temperate kinds interspersed with them on the valley floor, which had turned to oranges and reds by now, leaves scattering through the air on breezes and gusts he could actually see, as far away as they were. The sparse, short undergrowth too had started to redden, leaves falling on the floor and leaving bare branches in most places.

A forest halfway through Autumn was a pretty sight, and with all the clutter dying off, it would be easier to make his way through it.

Every now and again, on the peaks of the mountains ranging around him, Jaune could actually make out fortifications. Ranging from the closer ones, small forts he could barely make out, to the ones on the highest peaks interspersed regularly. Those were huge, fortresses of white stone with craft coming and going, and bristling with what even Jaune knew to be weapon emplacements. At the end of the line of forts, halfway through the valley towards him, were the largest emplacements that looked less like forts and more like small towns with huge walls, covering the upper tenth of the mountains in white buildings with flying flags and buzzing ships.

Which turned the entire valley into one long trench, surrounded my weapons and soldiers. A kill box.

And that fact didn't detract from how beautiful it looked, to Jaune, who smiled and let out a contented sigh, thinking on Gnarl's story. "I wouldn't mind dying here, for this kind of view..." he smirked, shaking his head and pushing away from it, "I mean, I'd definitely prefer not to, but… Damn."

What a sight it was, even if he didn't have time to really enjoy it. He had a ways to go, and better to get started now and make some decent progress before Gnarl woke up and nagged him over taking too long.

Gnarl did seem to enjoy nagging him.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

When Ruby came to, she was in a dark room, lying on the ground with her hands bound behind her and rope tied around her knees so she couldn't stand. Or run, she realized, eyes closing and tears welling at the edges threateningly. They knew her Semblance, then, or they wouldn't have bothered if she was already disarmed. They knew that if she could run, she could escape, and go for help. Even if she couldn't defend herself, her Semblance would have allowed such speed that it wouldn't have really mattered.

When the door opened suddenly and a flourescent overhead suddenly blazed to life, she rolled onto her butt and slid away from the door blindly until she found a wall and curled up against it, asking, "W-Who is it?"

"Oh, Red, it had to be you, didn't it?" A familiar voice asked, actually sounding sad for a moment before he sighed, "Why do you always get involved in shit that isn't your business? Can't you just leave things well enough alone once in awhile, just to try it out?"

"Torchwick…?" She murmured, confused as her vision returned to normal from the sudden flash of light before, until she could see the man smiling at her and leaning against the far wall by the door. She swallowed nervously, "I-I wasn't trying to fall through the road, you know."

"Really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her words and then snorting in amusement, "Knowing you brats, I wouldn't put demolishing a road to jump into the hole past you. You lot tend to look before you leap, after all, so don't act like I should be surprised too terribly much."

"We would…" Ruby admitted carefully after a second, hands behind her knees and her thumbs fiddling together, "But, I mean, I don't even have Crescent Rose. So it's not like I wanted to fall through the hole. I would have brought my weapon, and my team, if that were the case."

"Don't need to convince me, kiddo, I thought that when they told me what happened. You're not the brightest thing in the world, sure, but even you aren't dumb enough to leap into a dark pit in the ground without even having your weapon on hand." He gave her a glance and then shrugged, "Eh, maybe. I mean, wouldn't be the dumbest thing you've done. Messing with known, famous criminals like myself still ranks a few inches higher on the stupid scale. Sorry, Red, maybe you'll take gold one day. If, uh, you can manage to… get out of this mess, I mean."

"What do you mean?"

"I…." Roman sighed, grimacing, and moved closer to her. She watched him approach worredly, and barely relaxed even when he simply sat on floor next to her, head resting against the wall. "They wanted to do a lot of crap to you, Red, just so you know. Bad stuff, stuff I wouldn't allow."

"Like?" She asked, the man giving her a look out of the corner of his eye, and she swallowed and forced herself not to shuffle away from the larger man. Swallowing, she asked, "W-What did they wanna do that someone like you would have problems with?"

"You're an adorable young girl, they're fanatics, and you're trussed up and helpless, Red." he explained, voice low, "What do you think they wanted to do with you, besides the torture part of it?"

"Oh." Was all she managed, swallowing, throat suddenly dry.

"Yeah." Roman nodded, voice quiet and lacking its cocky tone, for once, "Neo's standin' guard over you, so that kinda crap doesn't happen. I had to argue with them for twenty minutes to stop them cuttin' you up for fun, or handing you around for somethin' worse."

"Thanks…" Ruby eventually said, staring a hole into the floor as her fears started to abate somewhat, "I mean that, by the way."

"Don't thank me, Red. S'just common decency." Roman answered, turning to actually look at her for a few seconds before he added, "And doesn't mean I saved your neck or anything like that."

"W-What do you mean?" Ruby asked, that fear rushing back with a vengeance, "I-I thought you said you convinced them not to hurt me?"

"I convinced them not to do messed up shit to you, Red, I can't convince a bunch of racist fanatics no to kill a Human." He sighed, fishing in his jacket when she deflated, looking at the ground again and trembling. He could see tears well in her eyes again, as much as she tried to hide it. He held out the small canteen for her, smiling apologetically, "Here you go, kid, some water. Gotta be thirsty."

She took the canteen from him with a mumbled thanks, taking a sip from it and holding it for a second before asking, "How is it… You know… Gonna happen?" She rushed to add, "I just wanna… I wanna know, ahead of time. So I can get ready for it, I guess, or… I dunno, I just wanna know, I guess."

"Have a preference?" Roman asked, the young Huntress-in-raining shaking her head gently at the question, "Firing of 'em with rifles, two rows, firing until you die. Normally it can take a minute for it to kill a person, 'specially one with Aura, but I paid a couple of 'em off and gave 'em Aura-piercing rounds. Told 'em to put shots in your chest. Shouldn't feel a thing."

"Aura-piercing rounds are expensive…" Ruby observed quietly, swallowing at the idea, "Why would you pay that much for me? You don't even know my real name, or at least I don't think you do, but you'd toss thousands of Lien into trying to make it not hurt for me when your friends kill me?"

"Cuz I'm not evil, Red. And they are very much not my friends, either." He shrugged, fishing in his jacket for a cigar and holding it up for permission. Ruby nodded and he set to trying to light it, sighing, "I give a shit about you, even if I won't risk my neck to save your ass. I'm not some mass murdering psychopath, you know?"

"A thief with a heart of gold?" Ruby asked, smiling in spite of everything. Maybe because it all felt less than real to her, at least right now. Shoved to the back of her mind, where she could pretend it wasn't real, at least for a while. Roman gave her a look, and she added, "I never would have thought of you like that."

"Why not?" He asked, taking a long draw on his cigar and turning his head to blow it mercifully away from her, even if that didn't help with the smell. She gave him an apologetic look when he met her eyes again and he growled, "Okay, look, Red, I play a part, okay? Gotta carry the charisma, or people won't follow."

"So you're, like, an actor?" Ruby asked, jumping when she heard a sudden knock on the door, and a deep voice.

"Roman! Get your ass out here, stop playing with the girl, we got shit to do. And you're the one that made sure she wasn't something for any of us to worry about doing!" Ruby heard something smack him, hard, and he snapped, "And get this aggravating kid to stop smacking me with her umbrella before I pop your head like a melon!"

"Neo, don't play with the help!" Roman called back, pushing off the ground and sighing, "Looks like our chat's over, Red. Sorry to cut it short like that, but… Yeah, I'm an actor, and I gotta hit the stage."

"Okay…" She held out the canteen for him and he shook his head, "Thanks, I guess. It's… It's kinda hard to be really grateful with, you know, everything but… Thanks, no matter what."

"Would do it for anyone, Red, and have done it before." He nodded, tilting his hat with a hand politely, and turned to leave. He hesitated at the door though, a hand on the knob, and turned, "If Neo comes in here by herself, at any time, it'll be to kill you. Not for anything bad, but because they decided not to listen to me. She'll make it quick, simple slit throat, but you'll have to keep your Aura down. Cuz those animals will do a hell of a lot worse than that. Understand?"

"Y-Yeah." Ruby swallowed, doing her best to get that image out of her head, "I-I understand. I promise."

"Good, good…" He sighed, staring at the wall, "This is a fucked situation if ever I've heard of one, you know…" Blinking, he gave her a look, "You the religious type at all? We got all kinds of 'em here, I can… I can get you something, if you want. Only got a couple hours, but…"

"No thanks… Actually," she smiled embarrassedly, "I'd, um, enjoy a book of fairy tales, if you have one somewhere. And, uh, I can't find it, they took all my stuff, but… My mom's cross? It's a family thing. And my name is Ruby. Ruby Rose."

"I'll see what I can do, Ruby." He answered, pushing open the door and throwing it wide, shouting boisterously. "Later, Red, hope you have a great couple of hours, play time is in three of 'em."

Just before the door closed, a small hand slammed in between it and the frame, and Neo pulled it open, leaning against the frame with a small smile. Ruby lifted her hand and waved, "Uh, hi?"

The small girl's smile turned considerably more vicious, and she gave her umbrella a meaningful pat before blowing the younger woman a kiss ad pushing out the door, letting it close behind her and leaving Ruby alone in the brightly lit room. At least Neo had left the light on for her.

And now, alone, Ruby finally let out a choking breath and pressed her forehead into her knees, trying not to cry because she knew that the goons - and Neo - would enjoy hearing it. Not that it proved to matter, in the end, when she finally broke down and cried.

And sitting outside the door on the floor, her legs crossed and her umbrella laying across them, Neo smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the sound of Ruby's music. Even if she hadn't caused it, she could still enjoy it well enough.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

And hour and a half.

That's how long he hiked, and normally, he'd be sweating bullets under the heat he knew he should be feeling, and the weight of his armor and weapon. Only… he felt perfectly comfortable, like he was in an air-conditioned room, rather than hiking through a forest. And the armor felt lighter than it should have, no heavier than his old set back when he'd snuck into Beacon.

And now, finally, as he rounded a thick oak and hopped over a log lying low to the ground, he felt it. A tremor in his Gauntlet, like it was vibrating around his forearm excitedly, and a pull at his mind that felt like a cross between Deja Vu and the warm sensation that came from seeing someone you loved. It tugged his eyes to his left and up slightly, urging him towards it, and he followed that urge without a second's thought.

Within half an hour, he felt the familiar tug of Minions, their presence always something he recognized. He followed that, then, tracking it like a hound would a scent until he found a small cave, barely large enough for him to crawl in. The stone around it was surrounded by scratches, and a rancid stench came from inside the cave, smelling like something had crawled in there and died. He gagged, shaking his head and standing, looking around in confusion.

"The Green Minions are quite a fetid lot, Master." Gnarl suddenly said, Jaune yelping in surprise and nearly dropping his poleaxe at the voice. Gnarl snickered, "Honestly, Lord, you are so jumpy. Most unbecoming of a dark Overlord, if you ask me."

"I didn't." Jaune snarked back, flushing in embarrassment, "How did you enjoy your nap, Gnarl? I hope it was refreshing."

"Quite refreshed, yes, Master. Thank you for asking. You're so considerate and polite, you know, always valuing my opinions and asking how I'm doing. It's all quite kind of you, and I appreciate it ever so much." Gnarl snickered again when Jaune simply sighed tiredly, "Now then, Master, if you would like to do your job, use your Gauntlet to order the Greens to come to your call. Just like when you summon Browns to you."

First, he took several steps away, and then he raised his Gauntlet high and pushed Mana into it, feeling a sensation like fire creep up his arm. Oddly enough, it didn't worry him not like it probably should have. He knew it was no danger, it was obvious to him that the fire he felt wouldn't harm him.

And then, accompanied by his Mana coursing through the air, he bellowed, "Green Minions, come to your Overlord's call to serve!"

He didn't have to wait long before a small green head poked out of the hole, covered in dirt and grime. The creature looked him over once and then twice, and Jaune held out the Gauntlet for him to see, and it grinned viciously and pulled himself out, cheering, "The Overlord is here for us!"

It ran at him, grasping at his armored legs like a child, and soon a dozen had joined him, and then their numbers continued to swell until two dozen of the creatures swarmed around his legs, cheering his name - or his title, rather - and clinging to him like a child who hadn't seen his parents in a long, long time might. He let them enjoy him, for a moment, reaching out with his Gauntlet to scratch at their ears, and they crooned in delight.

"Your Hive is buried, isn't it?" He asked, several of the Green Minions bouncing and nodding excitedly, two dozen voices answering his question at the same time. He raised his hand, shouting, "Oi! Stop yelling over each other, I can't understand any of you when you do that." Randomly, he pointed at one, "You, answer."

"Yes, Overlord, of course." It answered, snivelling and bowing low, in a facsimile of Gnarl's first real bow. When it rose, the creature explained, "When we settled here, we dug a hole, Master. Then we made it wider, and moved our Hive into it, and then we buried it to hide. No one found us, Master!"

"Good work, uh, Green guy." Jaune tried, awkwardly referring to the specific Minion, who seemed to croon in delight at the poor attempt at a name. "I'm, uh, very, very proud of all of you, for managing to stay hidden for so long."

"We're the sneaksiest, Master!" Green Guy answered cheerily, bouncing on his heels and pointing at the hole, "We hide very good!"

"Yeah…. Gnarl? How do we get the Hive out and back to the Tower, exactly? You didn't mention it being buried." He asked, the Minion on the other end sighing at the statement.

"I didn't know it was buried, Lordship, but it's fine." Gnarl answered, sounding bored and aggravated at the same time. The Minion had a talent for that, it seemed. "Just tell them to dig it out, and send them back to the shrine with it. It's a simple trip, and the Tower will open the Portal for the Hive, and I'll send some Browns to guide them back so none of them vanish on the way somehow."

"You five," he started, pointing at Green Guy and four others next to him, "are coming with me. The rest of you, dig the Hive out, and get it back to the Portal-Shrine. Some Browns will be along… eventually, and they'll give you a hand getting it back. Understood?"

They all cheered and, as he walked away, he could hear the sounds of the left-over Minions scraping at dirt and stone and digging. Now, it was just about getting to Mountain Glenn itself.

Which just meant another hiking trip, and this time with his… Cheery friends.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Jaune saw the shift in the area far before he reached Mountain Glenn. The trees gave way when he rounded the mountain itself suddenly to flatter terrain, with tall, green grass stretching out impossibly far with nothing visible aside from a few massive Elephantine Grimm wandering through the grass, which were luckily so far away that Jaune wasn't terribly worried about them.

That was ahead of him, and off to his right as well, and further out from the end of the valley Jaune could see the blue of the sea. It was probably days away, from here at least, and he had no interest in going that way, but it was at least pretty in a hazy sort of way, at least at this distance.

And then to his left, across some of the plains and cut into the foothills, at the foot of the outer expanse of the mountains that protected Vale even now, sat Mountain Glenn. Or the ruins of it, at least, and oppressive they certainly were.

Ten stories of concrete wall, with chunks missing and fallen around its base randomly and, at the top, the silhouettes of ruined, blackened building frames. It was… Surprisingly plain, to Jaune at least, leaning against the side of a tree and kneeling in the dirt with his Minions around him loosely, boredly looking around and waiting on him to give them instructions.

"What… happened here?" He asked no one, looking over the hulks of tanks and mechanized units, scattered around the base of Mountain Glenn almost randomly. He could spot helmets as well, and other signs of soldiers. "A battle, I guess, but… Why? Why would a battle happen so close to Vale, but I don't remember this place being mentioned in my history classes or… Well, anywhere else either."

"Perhaps, in a world filled with creatures driven by simply feeling particularly angry or upset about something, the people in charge elected not to incense and upset people with the truth of what happened here." Gnarl answered, almost a question judging by his voice. "I must confess, Lord, that I do not truly know. Whatever happened here, it was not so long ago, yet you were taught nothing about it?"

"No," he answered, shaking his head as he rose and moved out of the treeline, towards the wrecks, "I don't know anything about this place. I-I figured that this would end up just being abandoned, a bunch of empty buildings with a few Grimm running around, but this is…"

"Beautiful, total devastation?" Gnarl tried, sounding awed as he passed the hulking form of a mech, its arm shorn cleanly off and laying a dozen yards behind it, towards Mountain Glenn's concrete wall. Jaune grunted, and Gnarl added, "Probably not how you'd phrase it, I suppose."

He could imagine the bipedal warmachine, lumbering forward with the two heavy machine guns - or Jaune thought that's what the rusted things on its arms had been - and the soldier in the cockpit between the things shoulder-blades roaring defiantly. A massive Grimm barreling towards him, the rounds he fired glancing off, and then shearing past him and flinging him down to be overwhelmed by smaller Grimm. He reached out with a hand, resting it on the glass and wiping the dust and dirt away, and peered inside.

Empty, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing, judging by the torn open side of the cockpit he could see. The pilot had probably been dragged out and then mauled to death, which ranked pretty high up on 'ways Jaune didn't want to die'.

"Green Guy, take the rest of the group and find a way into Mountain Glenn." Jaune ordered quietly, scared, now that he was so close, of alerting the White Fang, "If any of you see a Faunus wearing a white mask, come and find me right away. Don't do anything else. Understood?" He waited for the creatures, clever enough to know he desired quiet, to nod and smiled, "Then go."

They rushed towards the ruined settlement, bodies low to the ground, and he quickly lost sight of them as he followed. Soon enough, and the White Fang that attacked his people would be gone, and no one would know about it.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Ruby jolted when she heard her door open again, unable to really know how long she'd been in the room. Roman had, true to his word, show up an hour after their chat and given her a thick book of fairy tales and her mother's cross, and he'd even brought her more water to drink, but he'd left pretty fast.

Which made sense, she supposed at the time. They didn't have anything else to talk about now. He had done enough for her, and she wouldn't ask for more, especially since she knew he couldn't do anything else.

"Hey, Ruby." The man said, standing on his own with Neo behind him, the small woman looking somewhat perturbed. Probably at not getting to kill her herself, if Ruby had to guess. "Did you enjoy your reading?"

"Y-Yeah, I did, it was nice…" She swallowed nervously, closing the book an setting it aside gently. "Is it, you know…"

"Yeah, kid." He answered, sighing and coming into the room with Neo behind him, the small woman kicking a rock away in irritation. Roman knelt in front of her, close enough she could smell his cigar and alcohol on his jacket, and gave her an apologetic smile, "For whatever it's worth, Red, I did try and talk 'em down again, a couple times. Weren't budgin', though. They're… Well, they're looking forward to seeing you get gunned down too much tobe merciful today."

"Told Neo she couldn't, not without your okay, but if you prefer she could…" He made a face, caught between apologetic smile and a sour grimace, "Well, she could let you die a bit more privately, if you catch my drift. However you wanna go, she won't mind, if you prefer it to getting shot a bunch."

"I-I dunno, I… I never thought about it, I guess…" She gave Neo a glance, the woman looking eager at the prospect, and swallowed nervously as she glanced back to Roman, "Would it hurt? A-And won't you, you know, get in trouble, though?"

"Nothin' I can't handle, Red, believe me on that mark. They'll be pissy for a bit, hurl some threats, but Ci- My friend, she scares them enough they won't actually do anything to me. And Neo is, you know, terrifying too." He assured her, smiling genuinely at her show of concern. "And… I dunno if it would hurt. A broken neck or a slit throat probably would, yeah, and Neo will have to rough up your body to sell the story, too."

"Rough up my…?"

"She's sadistic." Roman explained, waving a hand at the small woman, sho simply smiled mutely and waved back. "Story'll be that you did something to set her off, I'll make that bit up later, and in that case she'd spend some time with you. Makin' it hurt. You'll be dead as a doornail by then, though. And if you don't want either of those, she could also go the old 'two handed goodnight'."

"I don't know what that…" She looked to Neo, who rolled her eyes and wrapped her hands around her own throat, pantomiming herself being strangled and shaken back and forth, and Ruby trembled, "N-No, thanks, I… I don't want to cause you any trouble, you've been so nice to me, you know… Considering."

"You sure?" He asked, giving her a look of conflicted concern and curiosity, and some kind of fear she didn't understand. "I'll confess to some selfishness here, too, firing lines are… Messy. And I don't think I'd enjoy seeing a cute little kid get gunned down. Getting choked out is gentler, just… Just puts you to sleep."

"No, I…" Ruby sighed, nodding and setting her jaw, "I understand, Roman, but I don't want that. I want them to remember me. Maybe, I dunno, maybe they'll feel guilty over this, down the road." Her visage cracked, and she squeaked, "M-Maybe I'll help someone else like me, you know? Down the road."

"Maybe, kid, maybe." He sighed, standing up and shaking his head, looking at Neo, "Treat her nice, until we get out there, okay?" Neo nodded and Roman turned to Ruby, smiling and nodding his head, the rim of his hat pinched between his thumb and forefinger, "It was nice knowing you, kiddo, even if you were infuriatingly underfoot all the time."

"You too, Roman," Ruby answered, smiling sadly and holding out her bound hands to him for him to reach down and haul her to her feet. He did so and she met his eye, shrugging when Neo wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against her, Ruby reduced to hopping with her knees bound as they were, "You're nicer than I thought you were, in real life, you know? But, uh, can I ask one more favor?"

"Sure, Red."

"Can you tell my sister what happened? Even if it's kinda, you know, messed up, you tried to help however you could." She asked, voice low and weak. "And that I love her? And not to come after you for this? It's, you know, not gonna work, but I wanna tell you try. If, you know, you can tell her without getting thrown in jail or-or something."

"I'll give it a shot, if I can, Ruby." He answered, smiling and giving her another nod, "See you in a few minutes." Looking over her head at Neo, he said, "Two minutes and you follow me, got it? And don't rough her up or anything, it's overkill."

Once he was gone, the room was silent aside from Neo's breathing and Ruby's blood pounding in her ears. The small woman adjusted her grip on Ruby, and the brunette looked at her, "I, uh, this is weird to say, but… Sorry I didn't let you kill me, I guess?"

Neo snorted mutely and leaned up to give her a peck on the cheek, probably meaning to show her it was okay, and then started hauling Ruby towards the door.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

It took fifteen minutes to find a way into Mountain Glenn but, after that, finding the White Fang had taken no time at all. The interior of Mountain Glenn was a honeycomb of layered hallways and rooms and four of those layers in, the White Fang presence became obvious. Like they weren't even trying to hide in the slightest. Which, given how deep under the old settlement they were, and the work that getting here would have almost certainly taken anyone else as well, they probably weren't and were decently justified in that.

It was like a settlement down here, with apartments and homes, and production areas, scattered through the honeycombed halls. Hunting through them would have been a slog, normally, or he'd have had to risk himself and his Browns getting caught in a pincer attack between White Fang.

Instead, he sent his Greens ahead and had Green Guy guide him after them, past dead White Fang who looked like they'd simply keeled over in the middle of whatever they were doing. Occasionally, he'd spot some blood on the floor, or a green back in the dark, or he'd see lights being put out, casting the place into relative darkness with only red emergency lights to guide his way. Other than that, he didn't see, or hear the Greens as they went on their way.

And that was kind of terrifying, really.

He did his best to ignore the corpses as he past them, stepping over them gently, and avoiding looking at them, but he couldn't ignore it entirely. But… they didn't bother him, not directly. He felt kind of bad for killing them, or having them killed he supposed, but he didn't react how he thought he would. The guilt hit him weakly and washed away within seconds, and Jaune didn't know why.

Eventually, he gave up playing the game of trying to feel guilty so he could push through it, and just accepted that whatever was happening was probably due to the Gauntlet on his arm. Gods knew it had been playing with his mind plenty already. In fact, he realized he was bothered more by not being bothered by the killing than he was by the killings themselves.

Which was pretty damn weird, he felt certain.

"Door ahead, Master." Green Guy finally said after twenty minutes of walking, pointing a clawed finger, "Lots of white-mask-men out there, wide open space, not good for Greens. Nowhere to hide, Master, no no no, too much light."

"Can you tell what they are doing?" Jaune asked, moving towards the door and adjusting his grip on his axe. Green Guy shook his head and Jaune sighed, grimacing under his helmet, "We're not leaving here with any of them breathing, so we need to figure it out. Tell me what you did see?"

"Lots of them, moving seats towards a wall, and making food. A bunch with guns, Master, waiting in a group near a wall. Some loading crates and barrels onto a train, too, but they all keep looking at the ones with guns." Green Guy answered, "A guy in a big jacket and smoking is talking, making the people with guns and seats laugh. Can show you, if you follow me."

"Lead the way, then. And tell me what to do, I don't want to get us into trouble out there when we aren't ready." Jaune ordered, crouching low when Green Guy motioned for him too, and following the Minion out the door.

Outside the door, flood lights lit the area well, bright enough he winced after the gloom of the tunnels. Rows of trucks lined the wall where the door was, and Jaune saw a Green leap onto the back of a wiry man in White Fang garb, plunging claws into his neck and cutting across his throat before he could so much as cry out. The body fell and Green Guy nodded, standing in front of him, and led him forward.

The area they were in looked like a subterranean boulevard, with a trainstation to his left and more honeycombing buildings surrounding a wide, open area. Next to the opening for the train itself's tracks, ten men with rifles were idling while a dozen more hauled seating of a wide variety out and someone Jaune felt like he recognized stood on a large crate and gave a speech of some kind.

"What is going on?" Jaune asked no one, kneeling beside the hood of a truck with Green Guy next to him, both watching the proceedings while Greens around him brought down anyone that came too close and dragged the bodies behind the trucks to hide them, "Green Guy, what do you think?"

"Looks like a party, Master." The Minion shrugged, pointing a gnarled finger at the train, "That's full of crates and barrels, though, Master. Dunno why, though."

He heard a door bang open, metal slamming against concrete harshly, and almost jumped out of his armor at the sudden noise in the surprisingly quiet place. It took a moment to see why, a small woman dragging another who hobbled along with her, before she was thrown against the wall next to the crate with her back to him. The small, multicolored one grabbed her and turned her around, pressing her against the wall next to the mane on the crate, and Jaune's heart stopped.

"Ruby…?" Green Guy looked at him, seeming surprised at the fear in his voice as he watched them. "What the hell…?"

The ten men hooted excitedly, the ones at the seats practically roaring in excitement as the ten formed a couple lines across from Ruby, who was dragged to the side a few feet and made to stand still, trembling while she watched the Faunus array themselves. Then everything clicked in his mind, the guns, the way they were sitting, the excitement.

They were going to execute her?

Silently, Jaune rose, Green Guy watching, and as he marched towards the assembled Faunus, the Minions broke from cover and followed behind. A Faunus with a sword stood closest to him and, as the men and women formed a couple loose lines, A half-dozen feet away, Ruby spotted him, dark armor shining in the light cast on him by the flood lights, and them the man on the crate did.

Jaune braced himself for the man to call out, but instead he just smirked and nodded. Which was… Odd, for Jaune, at least. Surely the guy was friends with these others, right? Ruby's head snapped to the Faunus in fear and excitement at the same time , as the man bellowed out the order to aim. Jaune pulled his Gauntlet back, fingers forming into a point, and slammed it forward into the man's back.

He cried out, and the gunman and onlookers turned to look at him in shock as Jaune's gauntlet punched through his chest and out the front. His axe swung up and then down, crushing the rifle closest to him as it swiveled towards him, and in the same motion he allowed some of his Mana to surge through the axe and spewed a gout of flame at them, swallowing four of the gunman in the fire as he jerked the swordsman to the side and freed his arm, the burning Faunus crying out and collapsing under the heat of the flames.

A dozen rifles swiveled towards him, now, and he turned to put his left side towards them as they cracked a haphazard return, hampered by his Minions as they began to leap on them and his armor as rounds deflected away in most places. Not all though, he noted with a pained gasp as several rounds punched into his side and legs, turning and hurling his axe towards Ruby and past the small woman from before who charged him with a rapier.

Too close, he summoned his Mana and turned to face her, feeling rounds slam into him as he reached out with his Mana for his axe and moved to it, stumbling and slamming into the wall next to her. Behind him, his Minions tore into Faunus, and the fighting gave way to brawls, rounds firing with reckless abandon from weapons as men fell and fought alike. He wrenched his axe free and heaved a pained breath, turning as another few rounds carved into the concrete beside him. Ruby actually leapt to his rescue now, or hobbled more like, rounds deflecting off his Aura as he collapsed under her, his helmet resting against her back as he knelt.

Summoning more Mana, he surged it into his axe and closed his eyes, murmuring an apology to Green Guy and wrapping his gauntlet around Ruby. She squeaked at the hold, and then shouted in earnest as she rolled across the floor of the cave, next to the Portal-Stone. He staggered out of the blue light and then collapsed, slamming into the dirt floor with a dozen Minions rushing to him with worried cries, and he turned his head to look at Ruby.

"U-Uh, hi?" She tried, sounding nervous and showing it more so when the yellow eyes turned to her, "Are you, um, okay?" She glanced at his armor, and the blood flowing along the dirt of the cave, and grimaced, "Okay, so that's a no, I guess… Just, tell me what you need?"

"The…" He coughed, rolling his head and pointing at the Portal-Stone, "Home… Gnarl, he can… Help."

"Okay, Ruby, you can do this… This is nothing for an awesome Huntress-in-training like you." Turning to one of his Browns, she smiled warmly and held out her rope-bound hands, "Can you, um, cut me loose, plase? My knees, too? I want to help, but, kinda can't move too well."

The brown was quick to cut her free, and she rubbed her wrists for a second before stepping over him, planting her feet to either side of his hips and squatting down, looking through his visor, "Need you to stand up, okay? I'll drag you the rest of the way, but you're… Kind big." He nodded, and she leaned forward, wrapping her arms under his shoulders and Jaune couldn't help the first thing that came to mind, in his state.

"Smells nice…" He grumbled, Ruby huffing and pulling at his shoulders while he scrambled to get his boots under him.

"Not the time, dude," she grunted as she shifted, letting him lean on her shoulders and half-dragging him onto the stone while he summoned the paltry Mana to open the Portal. It whirred to life, and she blinked at the blue light, murmuring, "Wow…"

When they stumbled out of the Portal-Pool in Atlas, Gnarl shuffled towards him with a startled cry of, "Master? The devils have you done already? I swear, I send you on one little errand without me and-"

Jaune pushed off Ruby and staggered away, towards his throne, his axe clattering across the floor as he sagged and Ruby caught him, staggering under his weight and shouting at the Head Minion, "He, uh, he got shot trying to help me, and I don't think he has Aura, and you are not helping right now."

"Take him to the throne, young Mistress." Gnarl sighed, shaking his head as Minions emerged from the surrounding halls to watch, Ruby dragging Jaune along and then up the stairs, panting when she finally shifted him and sat him on the chair, "Now out of my blasted way."

"Okay, fine, sheesh." She panted, stepping to the side, and catching her breath while Gnarl climbed onto his lap and reached for his helmet, plucking it from his head and tossing it aside, slapping Jaune's face to get his attention while Ruby staggered away, "Jaune…?"

"Hey, Ruby." He coughed, smiling through bloodstained lips and coughing while Gnarl looked him over, "Been… Been a minute, huh? G-Glad you're okay."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Okay, may have run away with myself in the Roman scenes, but he's just fun to write and play with. Couldn't help it, and I had to fit a lot of shit in for Ruby as well. And then I just couldn't find a decent stopping point, and just… Ugh. I got way too caught up with exploring Roman and Neo in what little capacity I can in this particular story.

I did, however, delve way too much into those scenes, sorry guys. Tried to expand the chapter itself to not encompass literally just Ruby and describing the trees for days. But I had a lot of scenes to describe, and that's like crack to me.

So, extra long chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed it. I'll stop rambling incoherently now.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The Qrow :

No, he doesn't. In the original chapter one, there was a line explicitly stating that Aura and Mana can't coexist. I forgot to restate it after removing that instance, so all there is now is Gnarl insulting Aura and implying it had no place in the Tower. My bad.

Webghost :

She was indeed, yeah~

Now, less so~

Maybe~

Eren Jaeger :

Glad you're enjoying the slow grind of progression. It's my favorite thing to do, you know? Note, though, that this chapter was a major escalation chapter.


	10. Chapter 10

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Ruby was shocked, to say the least, but several small hands grabbed her skirt and pulled her away before she could do more than sputter a few more incoherent words. The small creatures from before swarmed around her and Jaune, tearing his armor away and throwing it aside, exposing a thick shirt underneath. Several of the creatures, armed with long-axes and wearing haphazardly crafted conical helmets lined in fur, grabbed her skirt and belt, pulling her away from them.

When Jaune's arms hung limply at his side and his head lolled on his shoulders, she felt her heart hammering in her chest, pounding against her ribs like a jackhammer just like when she'd lost him before, and she kicked at one of them, "Let me go, I have to help Jaune, and I don't want to hurt you, so let me go, I have to-!"

"Get in our way?" A snide voice accused, the oldest looking one shuffling away from the throne - she couldn't call that kind of seat anything else - towards her, waving a hand at the guards. They let her go, but stayed beside her while the creature spoke, "Listen, young Mistress, he will be fine. He just needs to," he turned his head, raising his voice for the other creatures to hear, and continued in that louder voice, "get out of his armor and be taken to his bed, to rest, so the Tower Heart can heal him!"

"He has bullets in him, you, you little... Whatever the frick frack you are." She flailed weakly, looking away from the creature's beady eyes back towards Jaune, pulled from his throne while the creatures continued to strip him, exposing his upper body to the air. "T-That's a lot of blood, he needs a hospital or-"

"Young Mistress, if he leaves this Tower, his wounds will kill him." The creature shouted at her, grabbing the front of her corset and yanking her down to meet his eyes. She blinked, silver eyes meeting harsh yellow, and the creature snarled the question, "Is that what you want, young Mistress? For him to die? For him to bleed out on the snows outside, dying them red, from wounds he took saving your worthless little life?"

"I-I, no, I just- D-Did you say snow?" She squeaked, the words running over each other rose petals coming off her cloak as her anxiety spiked ever higher, "Y-You did, didn't you? You s-said snow, but Mountain Glenn didn't have any snow, and what was that weird thing Jaune did with his axe?" A realization struck, and she stammered, "O-Oh gods, Jaune killed that man! A-And he lit those other ones on fire, too! H-How did he even do that? I didn't see a flamethrower, s-so was that his Semblance? But the how did he move so fast, a-and-"

"In the name of Evil itself, do you always talk this fast, young Mistress?" The creature sighed when she just shrugged and made a face, shaking his head and turning back to the throne as a third of the axe-wielding creatures came up to him, "Get him upstairs to his room, disrobe him, and get one of our scouts to the work-camp. Tell them to see if anyone there has thread, needles, and any other assorted medical crap to help Master."

"B-But we no have way to get there and back, no, no, too far and we to slow." One stammered anxiously, hands rubbing together. "What we gonna-"

"Do you think they can help?" Ruby asked suddenly, the two creatures turning to her as another couple dozen carried Jaune away, posed like he was crowd-surfing at one of those concerts Yang loved to go to all the time. Swallowing, she explained, "The, uh, you know. The work-camp you mentioned. Do you think they can help Jaune?"

"Yes, young Mistress." The creature made a face, which she couldn't discern but looked caught between aggravation, acceptance, and fatigue with a mix of a few other emotions she didn't recognize on its foreign features. "I am Gnarl, by the by, I don't recall if I mentioned that yet or not. Apologies for my rudeness, but with have a slight problem with our Overlord. He appears to have sprung a few leaks, you see."

"I… Yeah." Ruby blinked, confused, "He, uh… he got shot a whole bunch."

"Yes, because he did something stupid, against what I would have so wisely suggested he do in the situation, and got hurt because of it like the foolish creature he is." Gnarl chuckled, giving her a meaningful glance. "That tends to happen when my sage advice is ignored like so much inane prattling. You tend to… Spring leaks, because of poor decisions and pointy objects."

"H-Hey, I'm the stupid thing he did, Gnarl." He smirked amusedly, and she looked at him in confusion for a before she realized what she'd said, flushing brightly and stammering, "N-Not like that! Fricking… Messing with me right now, really? Jaune is in danger!"

"No, Master is not in any danger. He is simply grievously wounded, and unconscious due to blood loss, both of which come from something like a dozen bullets which have nestled themselves in his torso." Gnarl explained, giving a roll of his eyes when she made a face of confusion and waved her arms in the air like he'd contradicted himself. "His wounds will heal in time. Removing the bullets, stitching him up, all that oh-so-tender loving care? Just speeds up the process. A couple months of healing without these things, reduced to a week at most. Perks of the job, you understand."

"Perks of… What job?" She asked, Gnarl opening his small mouth to answer before she held up a hand, waving it to shoo away the question and drawing a raised eyebrow from the creature. Or she thought that was his eyebrow, at least, it was kind of hard to tell. "Just, the people at that camp you were talking about, Gnarl. Can they-"

"Probably, yes." Gnarl nodded, shuffling past her towards the pool at the end of the hallway and beckoning for Ruby to follow. Which, after a nervous glance towards the path the creatures had carried Jaune through, she hesitantly did. "It's a remote location, with heavy labor involved. And the Overlord did say that someone was bandaged once when he went to visit the place. Something about the idiot smacking something and it blowing up in his face, but if they could treat that then they must have supplies and people who know how to use them. Yes?"

"I… Guess, yeah." Ruby nodded, taking a deep breath, "Okay, where are they, and how far away?"

"Several miles away, north I believe. I can show you, sort of, young Mistress." He answered, pushing through heavy, fur-lined and leathery curtains onto a balcony outside. Ruby shivered, struck suddenly by the cold air so abruptly her head ached, but ignored it as best she could to listen to the small creature, "We have scouts who know the way better than I do, and I must confess I paid them little attention when they explained it to his Lordship. Why do you ask, though?"

"I'm… Fast." She tried to explain, curling in on herself and rubbing her shoulders to stave off the shivering. Which didn't work, obviously, and she sounded like her words were being put through a fan almost, mixed with her chattering teeth. "I c-can run really, really fast, with my Semblance. Like, I mean, super, duper, extra lots faster than anyone else I know. B-but it wears me down, is the thing. A-And I can't do it for long, so I need to k-know exactly where to go, and- Gods, it's cold out here, can we go back inside? I can't think straight o-out here, it's s-so cold."

"Oh, very well, come along then." She nodded, following him back into the tower itself. And then he turned, heading down a staircase, and she swallowed anxiously. Going down there felt all too like descending into some kind of evil dungeon… "Come along, young Mistress, since you wish to help the Overlord. You'll need warm clothes to go out there, you know. And I know someone who can stitch them for you, unless you feel like freezing those tiny excuses for breasts right off."

"My- Hey! I am fifteen! Fifteen! They'll get bigger, first of all. Second of all, they are just fine like they are, because big boobs make you top heavy and slow you down! And third, Gnarl, why are you talking about my boobs!" She crossed her arms under the small- Perfectly normal, she amended herself, she crossed her arms under her perfectly normal sized breasts and stomped a foot at the base of a staircase, looking around at what had to be a forge of some kind. "Also, this is, uh, kind of really cool."

"Giblet!" Gnarl called, walking towards what looked like an armory off to the right side. He huffed and called again, "Giblet, get out here, or your name becomes Jester from this point forward, you understand me? And bring your measuring tapes! We have work to do, and not much time."

"W-What are you getting measuring tape for?" Ruby asked, swallowing nervously as a small creature came running out of the armory sleepily, tapes held aloft in its hands.

"If you are going to run to the work-camp to get what the Overlord needs, then you'll need better clothing, more fitting for the harsh temperatures of Atlas' north." Ruby murmured the name, 'Atlas', in shock while he explained further, "We have fur, leather, and thick cloth to use for you. If you try and run there without the proper attire, you will freeze and die. And I doubt the Overlord would like that too terribly much. Don't you agree?"

"Y-yeah, freezing to death, bad idea." Ruby nodded, a thought suddenly coming to mind, "I-Is there a way to get a message home for me, though? I mean, to Beacon. I have to let them know I'm okay, and-"

"Young Mistress, if you do that then do you know what happens?" Gnarl interrupted, voice dangerously low. Threatening, almost, bordering on a low growl in the back of his throat, thet rumbled there and seemed to echo menace at her. "This place, we Minions, and our Overlord will be exposed to the world. While we are small, and weak, and can't defend ourselves. And we will be destroyed."

"Why?" Ruby asked quietly.

"We are three foot tall, hideous looking creatures, ruled by a dark Overlord who wields magic and can teleport anywhere on this planet." Gnarl explained simply, raising a thin eyebrow, "Not to mention that we dwell on a continent that is already claimed in its entirety. In what version of this world would someone not decide to destroy this place? And if the Tower is destroyed, its Overlord dies. Jaune will return to how he was when he came here, so long ago. A broken, shattered, corpse."

"And I would assume that is not something you would enjoy, per se." Gnarl finished, giving her a small, almost imperceptibly pleased smile, or at least she thought as much. It vanished quickly, though. "My Master, he bled for you. Leapt into the fray without a second's thought, and took bullets for you. I like to think that you would value him, in turn."

"I do!" Ruby shouted suddenly, the Minion flinching at the rise in volume. Coughing awkwardly, she repeated, "I-I do. Value him, I mean. I cried for days when we had his funeral. I don't want to lose him again. He was my first ever real friend, and that makes him… So important."

"Then you must stay here, until we are strong enough to protect him." Gnarl coached, reaching up to grasp her forearm gently and reassuringly. "My Master made the same sacrifice I ask of you, when I told him these things. One day, you will return to your friends, and they will know what has happened. But if you value Mas- Jaune, then you can't return to them."

"I-I…" She closed her eyes, grimacing, and took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Okay?" Gnarl asked, raising an eyebrow and releasing her arm while Giblet watched anxiously.

"Okay." She repeated, nodding slowly and letting out a long, steady breath, "I won't leave. I can't stab Jaune in the back, after what he did for me, like that. It wouldn't be right. My sister will… She'll understand, even if it makes her angry enough to want to kill me when she finds out."

"Thank you, young Mistress." Gnarl murmured tiredly, himself taking a deep breath and letting it out before turning to Giblet. "Now then, Giblet get her measurements taken and stitch together something light but warm. Something she can run in. We have an Overlord to get sewn up. Preferably before he ruins his sheets."

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The Minion - that's what Gnarl explained his race were called, which Ruby found kind of adorably on the nose, if she were honest - who ran the forge area was named Giblet, and he knew how to make things faster than Ruby could even believe. Faster than she would have believed, actually, if she hadn't been there the whole time. He looked small, wiry and clumsy, and even if she was too nice to say it, when he spoke he sounded kind of dumb. His words slurred together sometimes, his grammar would have given Weiss a stroke, and he didn't seem to know any more technical terms for… Anything, really, when Ruby started talking about Crescent Rose.

But when the smithing Minion started stitching, cutting and sewing - a very different profession and skill-set, she wanted to point out, and she kind of thought it was unfair to only call someone who could do all that a smith - his hands flew through the motions faster almost than even she could follow. His fingers nipped, tucked and pulled, cut and sewed, and rolled fur and leather together faster than Ruby was fairly certain was possible in Atlas' best factories.

The newly sewn outfit was simplistic, probably thanks to the time constraints, made of simple, thick leather pants with fur lining along the waist where it hugged against her and thick, soft cloth on the insides. For comfort as much as function, the leather could and would protect her from water, but the thick cotton was needed to keep her actually warm and with the tighter fit on her legs it would chafe horribly if it was just the leather. He also made her heavier, thicker boots, lined in the same fur, as well as thick cotton socks again lined in the same fur.

Over her old top, she wore a thick leather jacket that fit snug to her arms, and that she stitched in the front like her own corset. Her hands were protected by thick cloth gloves, that went under the jacket up past her elbow, and a wool scarf wrapped around her face under her cloak's hood. She'd want to at least decorate the jacket a bit, later, but it kept her warm enough that inside the Tower she… Actually felt really, really hot.

And not the Yang kind of hot, either, the 'sweating a little' kind.

"Thank you, Giblet, I… I really like the outfit, and I can't wait to decorate it, but I have got to get going." She turned to leave, heading towards the door, and Giblet rushed around in front of her.

"No, no, not leave yet! Not ready yet, please, wait." He croaked at her anxiously, Ruby taking an anxious step away but nodding. Giblet returned the gesture and turned, rushing over to the armory where Jaune's heavy armor sat on a pedestal beside his axe now, after several Minions brought it in, blood still staining the metal. Giblet rushed back a moment later, holding up a long, thin knife to her, "Safety!"

"Oh. Uh, thanks." She said, taking the stiletto from the creature, still sheathed and with a small strap alongside it and a leather belt as well. She tied the belt on, talking as she did, "Can you get Gnarl for me? I need directions or a map, or something, to get there. Socan you go get him?"

The creature nodded and ran off, and Ruby was left to simply wait, until it was time to do the thing she loved the most. Run.

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The map she was given twenty minutes later, before she was guided outside, was little more than a very rough drawing of the area and an arrow pointing vaguely towards the direction she was meant to go, with a red line that was labeled 'scout lines end here' to the South-East of the Tower. Beyond that line, impossibly far to make it on her own, she knew she'd eventually see Atlas. But neither she or Gnarl really knew exactly what lay between them and Atlas, aside from snow.

Which had been a helpful answer when Gnarl snarked it, of course. He could have also included that there were trees in that direction, and Grimm too, while he was giving her such important information.

But she didn't run that way, rose petals trailing along behind her and scattering to the wind and across the snow as she went. She paused as she flew up a tall hill, leaning against a tree and looking back the way she came, smiling at the sight of the snowy forest stretching out around her with her rose petals scattering to the wind and mixing in with the snow. Her face felt cold, and she could see her breath come out in front of her, but aside from that she was… Actually fairly comfortable.

And gods, it was so pretty out here, and she was able to turn back towards her goal and just run. No Grimm, no people, just her and the view flashing by her beautifully as she went. By the time she reached the camp, she was panting and sweating from the exertion over such a long time and an hour had passed. She was exhausted, sweaty, and tired from being up for too long, but she kept on as she stumbled through the little gateway into the camp itself.

She had a job to do, and Jaune needed her to do it. He was her friend, and she would not let him down. Plus, she needed to hit him for disappearing the way he had, and for kidnapping her - on accident, yes, but still - and taking her to Atlas with him. Even if he'd kind of, sort of, saved her from an execution by firing squad and gotten shot repeatedly to do so, and he kinda couldn't help that part.

Still, though, that wasn't the point.

She'd boop him furiously, right on his noggin.

Nora would be proud of the bopping she was going to levy on his forehead, Ruby was pretty sure of that much.

The camp was in full swing of a work day, the stone of steel striking stone and foreman calling orders above that, when Ruby arrived in a flurry of rose petals and snow tossed into the air and ahead of herself. Several Minions spotted her quickly, exchanging surprised glances at her sudden arrival, and she looked at them while she doubled over and sucked in ai before saying, "Jau- Overlord, he's hurt. They sent me to run here for help. Get… Someone for me to talk to, please?"

"Go get scary lady!" One shouted at another, a third Minion grabbing him and yanking him to the side to throw him in that direction. As the creature ran off, the first explained, "Scary lady is smart. She help you, yes-yes, she help you."

"Scary… lady?" She mouthed, straightening and looking towards the only solid building as a door swung open and a large man and a smaller woman approaching. He looked tired and sported bandages on his arm, and she had bruises along the side of her head, and Ruby swallowed anxiously as they reached her, "U-Uh, hi, I'm Ruby, R-Ruby Rose I mean, a-and I'm, you know, uh…. Here, and-"

"What happened to the Overlord, and who the hell are you?" The woman snapped, sighing after a second and rubbing a hand along her jaw, grimacing, "Sorry, sorry, still… Kind of sore after an… Accident we suffered, here. And the news that he's hurt doesn't come well, everyone here needs him."

"W-What happened?" Ruby asked, curious for a moment. What was Jaune to these people, after such a short time? "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfectly fine. We just had… It's fine, and it doesn't matter, the Overlord gave us a hand regardless. No one died, and all injuries suffered by parties involved were minor or we don't care." She gave Ruby a once over, eyes narrowing suspiciously as the thorough inspection wen on, "I don't know you, though, and the Minions didn't give your name either. Are you new? And again, what has happened to the Overlord?"

"Uh, so this is a long story-" The woman's eyes narrowed and Ruby squeaked at it, rapidly spitting, "H-He saved me from a bunch of terrorists, and got shot really bad, and Gnarl sent me running for sewing stuff and medicine to treat his injuries, and please don't glare at me, I've had a really bad day…"

"Shaun, fetch a backpack and two of our First-Aid kits, along with something to drink and a couple protein bars and hurry up. She looks to have run all this way, so time is almost certainly short on supply for him." She ordered quickly, the man snapping a nod and turning to sprint full tilt back the way they'd come. The woman turned back to her, eyes softening, "Saved you from terrorists, huh? That man just can't stay out of trouble, it would seem, can he?"

"No, he's a good guy. And he got shot for it." Ruby added the last in a whisper, making a sour face. That he'd gotten shot for her wasn't something she was quite okay with. The woman seemed to grow worried, and Ruby rushed to add, "H-He'll live, Gnarl said so, the medicine and stuff just… Helps. I just, you know, kinda feel bad, cus it's kinda my fault, you know?"

"Can you make it back on your own?" She asked as the man in the distance slammed out through the door, caught himself on the railing and almost fell down the stairs. Ruby nodded, unsure herself at least a bit, and the woman returned the gesture, "Take a breath, shove a protein bar down your throat, and get going then. If he's as alright as you say, you have that much time."

She turned as the man reached them, snarling, "And you, don't think I don't know you almost fell down the stairs again. Gods, you did it once and lied to the Overlord about it. You need to learn some damn contro before you kill yourself, Shaun."

Ruby snatched the pack from him while he stammered excuses, digging around in the top of the simple cloth thing and yanking out a large bar. It tasted like oatmeal, and was annoying to chew, but she knew better than to not eat it. Her dad and Yang both had drilled that into her when she was little, a Huntress needed energy to fight and she especially needed it to run like she did.

"Gottagothanksforthefoodandstuffguysbye!" She rushed out, turning and sucking in a cold breath before she launched a foot off the ground, body lost in a swirl of petals so that she appeared as a bullet, soaring off the ground to the entry-way into the camp once again. She slammed a boot down on the ground just outside the gate, grit her teeth, and kicked off as she hurtled forward back the way she'd come.

Luckily, she had a nice red trail to follow back, so she didn't need to stop and check the map again like she had on the way.

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Yang's fist slammed towards another White Fang grunt and missed, slamming instead into a wall next to him and smashing through it, shrapnel flying through the air from the might of the blow and intermingling with her flaming hair. Her eyes, glowing bright and red, rounded on the scrambling man and repeated her demand, "Where is my god damn sister, you dub mother fuckers?"

One, a suicidal one she thought privately, lunged with his sword and cried, "Die, you blonde bit-"

"Not smart!" She screamed, grabbing his wrist past the sword and yanking it back, a loud snap echoing almost lost in his pained cry as his arm was made toofold in half. Tired of his screaming, she slammed him facefirst into the remnants of the wall next to him and let him fall limp on the ground. Stepping over the groaning body, she spread her arms wide, "WHo the fuck is next, boys and girls? I'll crack every one of you through these- Hrk!"

She stumbled to the side as small legs wrapped around her back from behind and yanked her to the side, towards Weiss, Blake and Oobleck who were fighting in the wider, open area. She caught sight of multicolored hair and a smirk, before she felt the small woman yank to the side, off-balancing her and rolling them across the ground, kicking her into the air when Yang saw the ceiling above her and throwing her away.

She fired a shot from Ember Celica at the highest point of her arc, shooting back towards Neo with a yell and slamming her fist down towards her face. Her fist punched into concrete instead, the woman sidestepping and putting herself between Yang and the train, and Yang snapped, "The fuck is my sister, you mute little skank?"

Neo raised an eyebrow and smiled, stepping to the side slightly and looking over her shoulder. Yang followed her eyes, and her own widened when she saw what Neo was looking at.

A red smear on the wall, next to the train, and burns across the ground a few feet away from that.

"No… Not Ruby, no..." Yang turned wide, tear-filled eyes on Neo, and the girl smirked, drawing her blade in one hand and opening her parasol with the other almost like a sword and shield. Yang stared at her, eyes wide, and Neo lunged for a stab.

Blake intercepted her, spinning through the air and catching Neo's stab, pushing it aside and slamming a foot into the girl's parasol to shove her back. The smaller woman landed a foot away, smiling, and Blake called back, "Yang? What's wrong? Are you-"

"You fucking animal!" Yang shrieked, slamming her gauntlets together with a snarl as fire burst out around her. Every eye, friendly and otherwise, turned to her as she continued, "I'll smear you all across the fucking walls you sorry, pathetic, evil little monsters! And then I'll feed you to my fucking dog!" Said dog whined worriedly nearby and Yang sneered a smile, "They killed Ruby… Zwei, kill."

Neo's smirk finally vanished, for once, when Yang shot forward and slammed her fist into her parasol so hard that they both heard the metal crack in protest. Yang gave her no time, reeling back and slamming another fist into it, and Neo blinked white eyes and rolled tododge the next attack. Yang followed, never letting her breathe and Aura burning so bright Neo could feel the heat, and Neo flipped backwards, slamming a kick into her jaw.

Yang just smiled, grabbing the leg and hauling her back, wrapping a hand around her throat and growing, "And you? Pretty flexible. I wonder how many knots I can tie you into. Let's find the fuck out, shall we?"

When her fist met Neo's face, she shattered into a thousand pieces, and a Grunt rushed her from behind. Yang spun, without a word, and caught his slashing sword arm, cracking it back and slamming her foot into his knee so that that folded back to, and he cried out. His cries were cut short as, still wordless, Yang slammed her fist into his throat, his body dropping with a wet choking noise as she turned and smiled at Neo.

"Neopolitan." And Neo registered something deep in her mind as she heard that voice snarling at her, something new to the small woman… Fear, and regret. "Come back here, so I can rip your fucking tongue out, since you don't seem to fucking use it!"

Yeah, that was definitely fear, she thought, as the now quite close to literal blonde bombshell shot towards her.

Around her, the others started to mirror her ferocity and rage, even if none but the hound seemed to match it. Their hits struck harder, breaking masks, skin and bone, and tossing enemies aside with far less concern for gentleness. Zwei leapt, slamming into a Grunt's back and then snapping jaws around the downed Faunus' neck, muzzle coming back red and snarling, and the professor with them wrapped an arm around a fighters neck, snapping it as he stepped by in one fell move.

Neo realized as Yang swung for her face, the small woman ducking under it and then flipping back and away when her knee came up, that she had maybe caused a shift in this fight that she did not want.

But fight she would, and gods damn her if it wasn't so much more fun now, as fighters cried out in pain and shock at the wounds they took and Yang shrieked murder at her. Neo stood in front of her, casting aside her damaged parasol, and the smaller of the two ducked under her right hook once again, spinning around to stand beside her and lashing out at her back. The cut was shallow, but bled, and turned Yang's skin a pretty shade of red for a few seconds before it seemed to boil under the heat of the blonde's rage and Aura.

Rather than turn, Yang fired a shot of her gauntlet and slammed a shoulder into Neo's chest suddenly, throwing her back suddenly. Neo, surprised, let out a small gasp and flailed as the two fell. Yang landed on top of her, her side pressed into Neo's stomach, and turned on to of her while Neo kicked and clawed at her chest, face, anything she could reach. An animalistic struggle, matched against Yang herself clawing at Neo's clothes and skin for a grip.

A hand closed around Neo's throat, and then a fist raised and slammed into her chin, and with Yang on top of her she couldn't teleport away. The blow stunned her, even through her Aura, from the strength of the strike, and so the next when it landed on her cheek split skin and busted her lip, blood flying across the floor next to her.

Breathing heavily, Yang sat up, straddling the small woman. Neo blinked, and Yang grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to meet her eyes and snarling, "I don't know what you did to my sister, but I'm going to make you pay for it." Neo glared silently, and Yang pinched her lips together, "Maybe starting with some teeth."

Yang brought back her other fist, and an explosion knocked her aside, Roman shouting, "Neo, on the train, we are getting the hell out of here!" The small woman rolled onto her side and scrambled away from Yang, rising in a run towards the man while she shrieked behind her. The train was already moving when she reached it and leapt, grabbing Roman's hand, and he asked, "What the hell did you do to piss off the firecracker that much?"

Neo just wiped the blood away and smiled, heart racing and face aching, while she turned to look at Yang pummeling a man into the dirt, whispering, "Something fun."

Hearing her speak, Roman looked surprised and shocked, and swore, "Son of a fucking Ursa… What did you do?"

This time, she didn't answer. Simply raising her blood stained hand and looking at the blood there. Her own blood, for once, and that fact set her heart fluttering like a maiden in youth, fawning over a young prince of a man. She'd been in plenty of fights, and rivalries, and this… This was special, now.

Yang had spilled her blood, and Neo had spilt hers, and Yang wanted nothing more than to rip her to pieces, to hurt her and relish in Neo screaming in pain and for mercy. And that meant something to her. Something Neo couldn't place.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Elite Shadow :

Glad you're enjoying yourself.

Grape Fanta :

Part of both. Learning new things, and working with my beta and on my own skills. I may, at some point, go back and redo those chapters to fix that issue.

Dirt Revor :

Yup.

Lohamigos :

A nerf. Jaune wielding all the magic under the sun and having more Aura than your average continent? Too op, needs nerf, otherwise Jaune would run a train on… Every single thing, and that is generally bad and boring.

Dragon Blaze-X :

Your name is very appropriate to this chapter…

BukkakeNoJutsu :

Glad you enjoyed it~!

Eren Jaeger 17 :

Jaune is always awkward even when he is being a badass, Gnarl always has ideas, and canon will start changing relatively dramatically in some ways soonish.

Xager the Chaos King :

Maybe I will. I enjoy exploring him as a person and character, and might like a more pragmatic, self-interested version of him with an actual, genuinely cruel and outward about it, Neo at his side.

I did feature them heavily in Knight and Mind Games, though.

The Impossible Muffin :

Honestly? Had this particular scene planed out - mostly - a long, long time ago.

Artanis Rose :

See Xager's response for the Roman bit. And yes, once he's not ruining his nice sheets,Jaune having Ruby around will be interesting as all hell.


	11. Chapter 11

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Jaune's existence, for a long time after he'd collapsed onto that stone throne, was nothing but fire. A horrible burning in his chest and down his back, like lances of flame being injected straight into his body at a dozen points, crackling out like fiery lightning from each inferno's epicenters. A mosaic of scorching pain, with no end in sight, and all Jaune could do was grit and bare the agony in the hopes it bettered itself soon enough.

It didn't.

Instead, at every epicenter of that fiery agony, he felt something first pierce and then rip and tear at the flesh around them. Digging into his body, like miners scouring the earth for metals or gems. The spiderwebs of pain that had previous scored across his body flared at each movement of the thing, and Jaune felt the urge to scream. Whether he did or not, he wasn't sure, his existence reduced to the pain and dark unconsciousness when it became too great. A rarity, but blessed whenever it did come.

All the while, that presence in his Gauntlet weighed on his mind, ever-present throughout both his bouts of blissful unconsciousness and the time spent in agony. At first, he'd reached for it in hopes of finding comfort, but it had offered nothing. Neither comfort or pain came from that Gauntlet, and he gleaned nothing from it. It, whatever it was, seemed more than content to simply sit there and weigh on his mind. In his other hand, as generally unable to determine where various bits of himself ended and began, he felt something small and cold only a moment before the added agnony had begun. Part of his mind suspected it was to blame for it, somehow, but he frankly didn't care and clutched at it like the lifeline it was.

Such was his existence for what felt impossibly like an eternity to the young Overlord in the making. Or unmaking, as it seemed to be at least for right now.

And then, suddenly he felt the warm and soothing rush of Mana into him and across his body, suffusing his wounds and spreading out along the spider-webbed lances of pain scored across his body. For the briefest moment, the agony intensified, and then it finally vanished entirely, receding quickly into the epicenters before they themselves numbed to a dull ache, before finally vanishing altogether and allowing himself to sleep for the first time in peace and comfort.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You know, it hurt a lot less the first time we went through this whole 'dying' thing, Gnarl." Jaune groaned when he finally awoke, days later according to the Head Minion and covered almost entirely in bandages. Some were dyed a touch red, but they didn't hurt anymore and that was the important thing. "Hurt a lot less… Felt like I was getting shot all over, the whole time."

"Yes, Master, because last time you were significantly more dead during the whole healing process. So you got to skip a few steps involved in using the Tower Heart to heal." Gnarl answered, sighing tiredly and resting his chin in his palm while Jaune took a drink of water, smirking, "Your new Mistress stayed by your side throughout, Master."

"My- Glrgl!" He choked, Gnarl laughing a loud cackle of a laugh while he choked on the water and glared at him, "Gnarl, behave, for Evil's sake… What are you- Mistress?! Sin-Since when do I have a Mistress? I don't have a-a Mistress."

"Oh?" Gnarl started, raising his eyebrows disbelievingly, "So you just toss yourself in front of firing squads for everyone, eh?"

"N-No, but we're not, we haven't, that doesn't mean-" Jaune sighed, flushing and shaking his head, "We're not- Don't say that around Ruby, okay? It's just… Very not okay, she's like two years younger than I am, Gnarl."

"Yes, because a creature like myself would definitely care about age, Master." Gnarl rolled his eyes and snorted, handing the Overlord a small glass, "Now it is late, Master, and you need your-"

"Jaune!" The Minion and the Overlord both flinched at the loud voice, the duo looking at the woman propped up on her hands at the end of his bed, glaring between them. "You were supposed to tell me when he woke up, Gnarly! Why didn't you?!"

"Gnarly?" Jaune snorted, the small creature turning a glare on him and opening his mouth to say something.

"And you!" Ruby shouted first, surprising both of them as she stamped her bare foot. "What were you thinking, Jaune?! Jumping in front of bullets and you don't even have Aura to protect you?! I mean, yeah, some of them had anti-Aura rounds, but still! You didn't know that!" Another stomp of her foot, and she demanded, "Well? Say something!"

"I mean, you know, it won't be an apology." He pointed out, "Because I would do it again in a heartbeat, Ruby. For you or any of my friends, I would risk my life."

"But-"

"I feel the need," Gnarl interrupted her with a polite but not-so-subtle cough, "To point out the tiny, little, probably insignificant item of note that Master has already died doing stupid things like this. I should think only managing to almost die this time is a might bit of an previous examples. Er, well, he died halfway I suppose is how it should be phrased, and the Tower Heart dragged his sorry behind right back from the edge. Again. Because that is obviously what the Tower Heart is meant for, eh, Master?"

"Gnarl-"

"That is a great point, thank you so much, Gnarl." Ruby cut Jaune off, smiling widely and warmly at Jaune, "I do find it kinda weird, you know, how a guy who has already died would be so… So gosh darn eager to get killed again."

"Was that you trying to swear…?" Ruby's eyes narrowed and Jaune swallowed, "Look, I don't want to die, okay? I mean, I feel like that should be obvious, but I guess you wanted me to say it?"

"I just… If I see someone I care about in danger, I have to help them." He continued, when she didn't seem terribly satisfied with his answer. Shrugging, he added, "It's who I am, Ruby, and I won't try and change that. It's selfish, I know, but I have to do it, even if it gets me hurt or, you know…"

"Very, thoroughly, incredibly dead?" Gnarl offered helpfully, Jaune grimacing and giving the Head Minion a sour look. The small creature smirked knowingly, but feigned ignorance all the same and looked to Ruby, "I mean, I thought that was a good enough summary of events. What do you think, Mistress?"

"I… I understand." The Minion balked, but Ruby straightened and crossed her arms, ignoring his reaction. Her face pinched a bit and her eyes narrowed, and when she spoke again her voice sounded almost pained and strained against something, "I understand needing to help people, Jaune, especially when you know them. I just… It's scary, you know? There was… There was a lot of blood when you got shot. But I know why you did it. I just… Don't like it, I guess."

"I can get that, I guess." Jaune nodded, laying a hand against his side while he adjusted his position a bit on the bed, so he could actually sit up with one of his pillows behind him. "But I can't promise it won't happen again, Ruby. Even when I get you back to Vale, I won't stop fighting, and I can't have an Aura now so… I'm going to get hurt. A lot."

"I still don't know why you can't generate your Aura." Ruby groaned, reaching up to rub the sides of her head like she was warding off a headache or something. "I asked, but none of the other little guys knew. And Gnarly was busy, so I couldn't ask him, and it's giving me a little bit of a headache."

"The Tower Heart is to blame for that, I am afraid." Gnarl pointed out, after grumbling something about his name under his breath. "The Heart doesn't enjoy sharing, you see. Even, often times, with things natural to whatever it is interacting with. Mana is one thing, the Heart absorbs it and just feeds it back. But Aura? It has no use for such a pathetic power, and so I doubt it would deign to share space with it."

"It… Doesn't share?" Jaune asked, eyebrow raised curiously. "I didn't think it was, you know, that kind of sentient."

"It's… Hard to explain, Master." Gnarl admitted after a second, seeming marginally displeased to be forced to admit to not knowing something. Sighing, he continued on without seeming to give it much more thought."The Heart isn't sentient, not truly. It doesn't so much think as it… Acts according to its nature. Much like a rock doesn't think to roll down a hill, the Heart doesn't share space well. Its nature is that of domination, after all. Sharing is contradictory to that, and so it won't share your body with an inferior power."

"I mean," Ruby started shyly, smiling slightly down at the creature, "Aura does block bullets, Gnarly. Whatever Mana is, it doesn't seem to do that. Soooo, I think I prefer my Aura, thanks."

"Yes, well, let me know when your Aura lets you hurl streams of fire and heal numerous gunshots in a few days' time." Gnarl sneered lightly, rolling his beady eyes and looking to Jaune, "Master, I must protest your taste in women. This girl is far too foolish for you, I think, Lordship."

"I mean, throwing fireballs and stuff sounds cool…"

"I changed my mind, Master." Gnarl quipped, hopping up and smirking, "She is far wiser than you already. Now, shall we leave the Overlord to his rest, or would you prefer to… Stay for more intimate endeavors? We can always get to actually helping him recover later, after all."

"M-More intimate…" Ruby stammered, looking at Jaune and then nolting for the door, leaving behind a trail of rose petals and what sounded like a stream of the word' nope' over and over without end.

"Get back here, Young Mistress!" Gnarl shouted indignantly, stomping towards the door, "And bring a blasted broom! I am tired of finding flower petals all over every blasted hallway in this Tower!"

Jaune made to follow the Minion but winced, pain flaring along his freshly healed wounds from the movement, and settled back against the pillows and the bed. Magic was great, but… He really wished he had Aura to block bullets right about now.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Ragh!" Glynda easily ducked back, taking a single step towards her desk and out of the blonde's wild, enraged swings, flicking a hand out and pulling a chair in front of her with her Semblance. Yang's knees slammed into it and she snarled, grabbing the top of it and hurling it against the bookshelves that circled the room and shouting, "Let me leave or fight me!"

"And where would you go, Miss Xiao Long?" She asked, letting the blonde lunge at her and stepping forward and to the side, close enough that her bust grazed along the blonde's outstretched fist. "Home, perhaps? I am sure your father would enjoy seeing you, and I feel he would love coming here to do so."

"I'm going into Vale, to hunt down that short bitch and her friends, and make them pay for Ruby!" Yang shouted, spinning on her heel and rearing back with her left hand in another haymaker. Goodwitch ducked under it, grabbing the younger woman's wrist as she stepped behind her, wrenching it around behind her like in a police maneuver Ironwood had taught her once years past. Yang snarled, trying in vain for nearly a minute to break free before finally snarling, "What is your problem?! They're a bunch of child killing terrorists, why are you stopping me!?"

"I'm protecting you, actually." The old Huntress answered, pushing a foot down on the back of Yang's knee and forcing her to kneel. "If you can't best me, I don't believe for a moment that you can best the strongest among the White Fang. Or those criminals your friends told me about."

"Blake and Weiss?"

"No. Your White Fang friends, the ones you so kindly delivered into Vale's main plaza yesterday afternoon." Goodwitch corrected for her, releasing her arm and shoving her away. Yang came up, ready to fight further, but Goodwitch continued, "Roman Torchwick and his associate, Neopolitan. Both are able combatants, though the latter is… Significantly more dangerous."

"I held my own before." Yang argued, curling a fist in front of her, "Busted the bitch's lip, too."

"That woman," Goodwitch intoned reproachfully, raising an eyebrow at the swear but moving on anyways, "is a known psychopath and sadist. She almost certainly enjoyed telling you that lie about your sister more than she disliked getting her lip busted. Her priorities are different from ours, from what I have gathered."

"L-Lie?" Yang's fists fell slightly, mouth parted and eyes narrowed at the older woman in a show of confusion and mistrust. A look the old woman was used to, unfortunately for her. "What do you mean, lie? What lie?"

"Many White Fang survived the train's arrival, and all had the same story to share regarding Miss Rose." Goodwitch responded, summoning the other chair from her desk and taking a seat in it as it arrived. "If you are finally a touch calmer, I shall relay it to you, if you like."

"T-They killed her." Yang whispered, snarling the next thing that came out of her mouth, "I saw the blood! The ashes where they burned her body! I saw both of them there, and Neo as good as confirmed it!"

"She lied to you. Probably hoping to enrage you, and she succeeded at it as well, I should add." Goodwitch said simply, watching the laundry list of emotions play across her face. Relief, disbelief, joy and then a mistrustful confusion, her jaw set hard and red eyes fading to lavender but narrowed at her regardless. "The surviving White Fang soldiers were captured and kept separate, and interrogated for answers as to what happened regarding Miss Rose."

"And?" Yang asked hesitantly, fists uncurling and arms lowering another fraction. "W-What'd they say?"

"The same things." She answered, "That she was brought out for her… Well, her execution, to be frank. Then a man showed up, impaled one on his axe, burned the others to death and… According to them, he teleported to your sister's side and shielded her from harm. The blood was his, as apparently his Aura could not protect him against the rounds. Then in a blink, they were both gone."

"And you believe them?" Yang asked, arms falling to her side when the Headmistress nodded.

"Very good, now about my- No, no, do not start crying, Miss Xiao Long, I…" Glynda watched the young woman sink to the floor and finally break down, shoulders heaving dry sobs before the first tears starting running tracks down her red face. Sighing, Goodwitch rolled her eyes and slid to the floor, pulling the young woman into a hug and awkwardly patting her back, "There, there, Miss Xiao Long. You're okay."

"She's alive, Gods, she's alive…" The young woman clutched at Glynda's shoulders, the older woman grimacing but letting her press against her regardless. "I thought she was gone, but she isn't… Oh Gods… B-But where is she, though?"

"We don't know, Miss Xiao Long, but I assure you we will find her." The sniffling woman nodded against her shoulder, and once again Goodwitch gave her back a few awkward pats, "There, there. You're alright, Miss Xiao Long."

"You're terrible at this, Miss Goodwitch..."

"But I am quite good at monitoring a detention, Miss Xiao Long, and you did break my chair. Do not look a gift Huntress in the riding crop, as they say." The older woman stood and Yang let her, standing a moment later and dabbing at her eyes with the back of a glove.

"Who even says that?" Yang snorted, giving the woman a grateful look, "Thank you, Miss Goodwitch."

"Ozpin says it all the time." The Headmistress answered, shrugging and moving to her desk. "And you are welcome, Miss Xiao Long. My door is always open to students who need me, though in future I ask you not try to assault me."

"I won't, Miss Double-G." Yang quipped, heading for the door as the woman flushed, tried to shout, and sighed all at once. Leaving her in a red mess behind her desk, leaning on her fists, and sending out what amounted to a whoosh. Seeing this, Yang pulled the door shut and walked as quickly down the hall as she could, smile vanishing, "Now I gotta go find Ruby… Great. And how the hell am I supposed to manage that? Shake my ass at the problem?"

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	12. Chapter 12

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"You're absolutely sure this is a good idea?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised on the Scroll-video call Yang was using to talk to her, leaning against a corner right across from the entrance to The Club to make sure Junior knew she was coming. "The last time you were there they did try and kill you, I feel a need to mention that is all."

"Yeah, but I think they know they can't do anything to me." Though that didn't mean another two guards hadn't come outside, handguns poorly hidden in their coats and leaning against the wall to either side of the door warningly while the bouncer continued doing his job. She waved, and they exchanged glances but didn't respond, so she added, "They gotta at least make a show of tryin', though, you know? So probably gonna end up punching someone. Or a few someones, but whatever."

"Have you thought about not doing that?" Yang gave her a look, caught between curious and warning, and Weiss continued as carefully as she could in the hopes of avoiding setting the bombshell off, "We all want to find Ruby, Gods but that's the truth. But if you make nothing but enemies, then no one will help you. I mean, if you hadn't trashed his place before, do you think he wouldn't have just sold the information to you if you came and asked?"

"He didn't when I came before."

"Maybe he didn't have any information on whatever you asked about, Yang." Weiss suggested, the blonde grimacing and looking to The Club, drumming fingers on her thigh absently and anxiously. Screwing up then had repercussions now, but it's not like she could have predicted some random armored asshole kidnapping her sister. "I'm not telling you what to do, Yang, but… Do you want Blake and I to come down there? I could smooth things over, maybe, and pay for the information."

"You're paying anyways, Weiss-Cream." Yang smirked, "Swiped some Lien from your backpack before I left."

"I- You- Why would you-" Weiss blinked three times in quick succession, and then palmed her face with a groan, "I would have just given it to you, Yang… You didn't have to steal it from me just for a joke."

"Hey, daddy didn't raise no crooks unless you count cookie thieves. And that was more a Ruby thing, so..." She half-joked, snorting and shaking her head. The smile was too small, though, and it didn't reach her eyes even to Weiss' admittedly limited experience with the boisterous blonde bombshell. Weiss gave her a look, though, and Yang rolled her eyes, "Okay, so maybe I should have asked first, but like you said, you woulda given it to me anyways. So just chill out, Weiss."

"Wow, Yang, that was terrible even by my standards. And shouldn't you be looking for your sister?"

"Oh shut up, Dad, I'm-" She flinched, turning to see the grimly smiling form of her father standing a few feet back, hands in his pockets and an eyebrow raised as he shouted, "Oh, and she is totally a crook, by the way."

"Who is that?" Weiss asked across the Scroll, and Yang gave her a glance and a small, apologetic smile, and Weiss realized what was about to happen, "No, no, explain what is going-"

"What are you even doing here, Old Man?" She asked, taking two long strides towards the man and letting him pull her into a hug. She sighed contentedly, and would have lied if she said that her father's hug didn't make her relax at least a bit. "And why didn't you say you were coming? I would have met you at the Bullhead docks, not out here at The Club."

"Ruby is missing, and Qrow called me as soon as he found out from Goodwitch." Her father answered, patting her on the head comfortingly and then pulling at her shoulders to get her to look at him. When she did, his brow raised and he half-smiled reproachfully, "You, though, didn't call me and tell me what happened. Instead, you're out here, handling it all on your own."

"I… Someone did call you, though, Dad." She argued, laughing weakly and pulling away, shaking her head when he gave her a knowing look. Head tilted to the side slightly, brows raised, and hip cocked in the typical 'Dad Stance' he always used. "Don't give me that, someone did, and I was… Out here, trying to do something about it. As soon as I could be. Ruby's missing, and I am going to find her."

"Then let's get to work." He answered, stepping past her and chuckling at her surprised expression, blinking owlishly until he called over his shoulder at her, "Coming? We have crap to get taken care of before it gets late. It's a school night, after all, and you have a bed time to get back before."

"Oh my Brothers, Dad! I'm seventeen, not a little kid back on Patch. I don't have a bed time to get back before." She groaned theatrically, waving at the bouncer as they crossed the street. The man heard her words, and saw the resemblance, and paled under his glasses while his fellows fidgeted anxiously.

"Hey, fellas." The man fished out his card as he walked by the line of people waiting to try and get in, handing the ID to the bouncer and smiling widely while he ignored the offended cries of those in the line, "Here to see your boss about a wayward daughter of mine." The trio looked to Yang, smirking with her arms crossed behind her father, and he shook his head, "Nah, not that one. My youngest. Need some information on a few things, Huntsman things as you can see by the ID."

"The girl-" Yang cleared her throat and the man swallowed anxiously, "Uh, Sir isn't, uh, allowed in The Club anymore after she…" He gave Yang a look and smiled nervously, shoulders scrunching up as he added, "Defended herself?"

"Good answer, Phil." She said, her dad giving her one of his sarcastic looks for it and drawing a roll of her eyes and a, "What? It was."

"I don't think his name is Phil, Yang." The man sighed, taking the IS when it was offered back to him. Nodding a couple times, he stepped closer to the bouncer so that his back faced the line, leaning with his hand stretched out to the wall like the man was an old friend, and asked, "So, what'd Yang do to get banned?"

"She, uh…." The man looked at Yang again, and her father nodded knowingly.

"Let me, uh… Let me guess, she came in, made a bunch of demands, got in a fight and trashed the place?" The man nodded nervously, and Tai sucked his cheek and nodded understandingly. "Yeah, my eldest is a bit of a brat sometimes."

"Hey!"

"Okay, well, all of the time. So, friend-o." The man said instead of responding to Yang's outraged shout, instead pushing off the wall and clappin the man on the shoulder in as friendly a way as possible, an act that should have frightened the man but somehow seemed to calm him. "How about this? We'll go in, with your buds here, talk to your boss, and walk right out. My daughter starts anything, and I'll bend her over my knee and tan her hide."

"You would not-"

"I will borrow a belt, and hike down your pants, right on that dance floor." He threatened, holding up a finger at her without looking. Her jaw clicked shut, and he addressed the bouncer again, "So, we got a deal?"

"Yeah." The man finally agreed after several long and tense seconds of thinking, looking guilty but nodding nonetheless. The guards relaxed, a little bit at least, behind him and Tai took a step away, the man raising a warning finger, "Just, uh, keep her under control, okay? And keep me out of your mouth, too."

"Of course." He agreed, looking at Yang and smiling widely, "Come on, Daughter mine, we have work to do. I want your sister home, and safe, before Amity Colosseum gets to Vale. She'd kill us if she missed out on the Vytal Festival, after all."

"Definitely." Yang nodded, pushing open the doors ahead of her father, feeling the thrum of music in her bones so deeply that it made her pulse race instinctively. Taking a breath, the familiar smells of smoke, sweat and alcohol washing over her, she turned towards the bar, "Come on, Old Man, let's see you act all cool with Junior whenever he shows up."

"You say that like it's an act." He joked, the young woman looking at her father with a smirk. His eyes rolled but he smiled regardless and chuckled, "Whatever, Yang. Let's just get this over with, preferably without any property damage."

"Eh, no promises."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"But you're…" Emilia eyed him up and down concernedly, as though to see bloodstains and bandages over his played armor, "Alright, now? I'd heard about rather grievous injuries, after all, and I was… Concerned."

"For me? I'm touched, Emilia. I didn't think you cared so much about me. Figured I was just paid, magical muscle." Jaune asked, chuckling lightly when she rolled her eyes, and watching the Minions put the finishing touches on his first Portal-Shrine. "You are okay with me building this here, right? Doesn't exactly fit the look of the place."

And it didn't at all, really, looking less like a modern mining camp with built-in living and processings quarters and more like an old Mistralian shrine he'd read about in books, built to old and dead gods and the religions around them. Built just inside and to the right of the perimeter wall, the Portal-Shrine was round and large, around the size of a moderately wide bedroom and twice as tall. A central room, inside which sat the Portal-Stone itself, sat inside a ring of black stone columns carved by the Minions which held up a slate-tiled roof above it, leaving a foot of open space between the top of the inner-room's walls to let the air - and raw Mana - escape from the room.

A single door, made of wrought iron and carved with the symbol of his Gauntlet in a dark red and bright gold, sat directly in front of it and visible from the entrance to the camp, a brazier on either side of it burning brightly and hotly, a few Minions around each warming themselves alongside a couple workers from the camp who were enjoying the warmth the fire brought on. And that was a nice sight to see, even if it was a bit weird to see the small creatures sharing space with the mining staff.

"Given how often this work camp seems to come under attack, losing you would be quite a problem." She answered simply, smiling thinly under her heavy winter hat and raising a brow at him jokingly. "I'd have to hire a new Huntsman, or five, to keep up with what you seem able to do. Much less to match your little army."

"Hurling fireballs, teleporting, or hitting people with a large axe?"

"Honestly, the best answer to that I can offer is 'yes'." Emilia responded, chuckling quietly got a second before sighing and turning to look at him. Jaune sensed the shift in tone even before she spoke, turning fully to her as well and leaning on his axe slightly. "In all seriousness, Overlord, my business would be as dead as my father without you."

"It's my job." He shrugged, and that was true even if he probably would have helped regardless if he knew about the attack. Gnarl probably wouldn't have told him, though, so there was that. "Seriously, Emilia, this place is… I like it. It's better than home, almost. Everyone actually seems to like me here."

"Someone as powerful as you should have been worshipped where you came from, especially with your little army." He stiffened and didn't answer, helmet staring at her expressionlessly, and she sighed, "Off the table to talk about, got it. I'll leave it lay."

"Good. Thank you, Emilia. It's… Kind of a sore subject for me, I hope you understand that." And don't mention it again, he left unsaid. He sighed, suddenly irritable but trying to get past it after she nodded respectfully and, to his surprise if not any displeasure, fearfully. "What's everyone's opinion on the Portal-Shrine? I don't think I ever asked you about that."

"Some of the workers find it kind of creepy, if I'm honest, but the fires are a welcome relief, and this means that our shipments are easier to deliver and our security easier to enforce." Emilia answered, and he could see her shoulders tense before she added, "They… Also hope this means the Minions won't be staying here to rest at night, Overlord."

"Why is that, exactly?" He asked, and judging from her wince he probably sounded sharper than he meant to. But it was too late to back out now, Gnarl would never shut up about it if he apologized.

"Everyone here appreciates the Minions and what they do to keep everyone safe, Overlord. And your own, personal measures to protect us as well, of course. No one would ever think of trying to make you leave." Emilia explained as politely as she could manage, "But the Minions are… Disruptive to operations, when they're here."

"They, uh..." A few feet behind her, a Minion hobbled by with two of their work-picks gripped one in each hand, and Jaune grimaced. "They do that, sometimes, yeah. I'll, uh, deal with it when I get a chance, Emilia. Believe me, I don't want relations between the Tower and this place to sour."

"It won't, at least not over that." Emilia promised, sounding relieved that he'd do something about it regardless. "It's an annoyance, but one that everyone seems willing enough to live with to get by."

"I meant to ask, Emilia." He started after a second of somewhat comfortable silence, aside from the workers cutting and picking at stone in the background. "What kind of guarantee do we we have that no one will talk about my Minions and myself? I mean no threat when I say this, but I can't afford to have news break about me and mine until I am ready for it. I will eventually, but… Not yet."

"I made all workers sign non-disclosure agreements, barring them from speaking about matters regarding you and this business. A couple left, refusing to sign their rights to speak away apparently on some principle, but have said nothing about you in Atlas or Mistral." Emilia explained quickly, either because talking about paperwork came simply and easily to her or in the hopes of assuaging him, and he couldn't tell which he preferred. Gods, things were getting confusing now. "It would take a lot of them talking about this, with proof, for anyone to look, and I could file lawsuits for any photography showing 'trade secrets', of which yours are safe."

"That's good news." He sighed, relaxing and smiling when she mirrored him. "I'd like to invite you to the Tower, Emilia."

"Y-You what?" She sounded so surprised her voice actually cracked a bit, eyes blinking at him under her hat, and he chuckled at that and Gnarl's own surprised voice coming out of the Gauntlet.

"I said that I am inviting you to the Tower, through the Portal-Shrine." He answered, lifting his axe up a moment later and adding, "Once I get it connected, that is. I want you to manage the shipments of stone and resources, and help the Minions determine what is needed for anything in the future."

"I, uh, kinda thought it would be rude to have your first visit to it be business, though. I-I mean, I'd like to think we're at least friends, after all of this crap we've been through." He added, shrugging his armored shoulders awkwardly. He was terrible with women, even when he wasn't hitting on them. "Figured you could come, look around, familiarize yourself. Gnarl can help."

"Are you volunteering me for things?" Gnarl complained, "I do so love being volunteered for things."

"More like I'm offering you up, and will order you to do it if she agrees, Gnarl." He explained, turning to look down at her after he spoke to the Head Minion, and ignored his aggrieved groan beyond a chuckle and a snide, "You'd think I'd sentenced him to death, or something. So, you want to? You don't have to."

"I… Don't mind." She shrugged, "Just give me some time, and I'll coordinate with Gnarl-"

"The Head Minion!" Gnarl corrected pettily, tinny voice shouting out from the Gauntlet. Jaune sighed, shook his head, and Gnarl continued, "I will be addressed as Head Minion, thank you."

"Ignore him." Jaune said, "And Gnarl, be nice."

"I am not nice, Highness! I am evil!" The Minion shrieked, finally groaning a second later and sighing, "Just do your job, and connect the Portal-Shrine, please, Master. We have got to have more important matters to get around to, somewhere, surely. We need to start by finding a good way to debut you to the world, without spilling the proverbial evil beans of course, so you can move around more easily."

"Yeah, and when I come up with something, I'll let you know." He sighed, nodding at Emilia and taking two steps before she spoke again.

"You know, Overlord. You could sign on with Atlas, to work security for the upcoming Vytal Festival." He stopped, turning to look at the smaller woman suddenly, and she took a step back at the sudden movements. "Well, given the Breach in Vale, the Valean Council elected to outsource security to General James Ironwood. His military forces have most items handled, easily, of course. But he is hiring Huntsmand and Huntresses for jobs dealing more directly with Grimm or Aura enhanced criminals."

"Couldn't his soldiers handle all of that?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused, "I thought that was… Their job, you know?"

"They do a lot, yes, and they field mechanized and autonomous units- Robots." She corrected, when his head tilted to the side in confusion, the only way he could communicate with his face covered the way it always had to be. "They do field those, and fight, and they even train Specialists as Hunters inside the military, but they could always use hired hands. And the common soldier can't stand down more than a Beowolf or two with a rifle, and their droids are the same."

"Huh. I'll think about that, Emilia. Thank you." He nodded and watched her turn to leave, turning to walk towards the Portal-Shrine and raising his Gauntlet to his face, talking to Gnarl as he walked, "What do you think, Gnarl? Is that a good idea, or nah?"

"I believe it might be, Master. With a lot of assumptions, like them not demanding paperwork from you to make sure you are who you say." The Minions sounded apprehensive, anxious even, and Jaune understood why. It was a massive risk, after all. "I shall speak to Miss Emilia about it, see about securing you Lien to travel to Vale, and… Just try and figure out how to even attempt this."

"Understood." Jaune said, raising his axe and looking at it, "So, gonna… Do the thing, now. Any last bits of advice?"

"Don't explode, Master." The Minion responded dryly, "That tends to make quite the mess, you understand. And we are lacking in buckets, unless Miss Emilia would mind lending some, so do take care to avoid that particular outcome."

"Okay, and how do I know when that's coming?"

"Oh, I've no idea, your Evil Lordness." Gnarl responded, sounding a touch more amused than Jaune felt he probably should given the risk to Jaune himself, but that kind of the insanity was the norm by now. "If you feel explodey, then… Don't do that, I guess?"

Sighing, Jaune raised his Gauntlet and pressed it to the flat of the axe's blade, closing his eyes and focusing on the flow of Mana through him. Instead of swelling in his stomach and chest, and rushing forth like hot water at his direction, it flowed from his Gauntlet and through the axe. When he opened his eyes, it seemed to vibrate in his hand, trembling from the power it contained. The edges flicked with electricity, arcing along the haft in his hand and tingling up his arms. He leaned close, peering at the flat of the blade, and wondered at the strange glow that reflected on the weapon's surface.

Raising the axe high, he marched to the center of the Portal-Stone, looking at the same engravings he'd seen on the one in Vale but this time in far more detail. Unweathered by time and undamaged by nature, the dark sigils were lined in heavy ink or paint, and the electric energy sparked out from him along their shape as he walked. At the center, a small circle carved into stone with a swirling pattern set in, he gently touched the spike atop his pole-axe to the center of that swirling pattern.

He felt the lightning rush out of him, sparking up to his Gauntlet, and would have cried out had the breath not been stolen from him, rushing out with the electricity. It danced around him, igniting around each sigil in turn and leaving it glowing ominously as it went, until it made the circuit and rushed back in like electric water and then crashed into him like the same. Finally, he felt air return to him and sank to his knees, sucking in air until Gnarl spoke.

"So," the Minion started anxiously, "the Portal is open and connected. Are you dead, Master?"

Jaune just rolled his eyes at more of the same and rose, opening the Portal to return home to his Tower. Just in time to see Ruby holding a wooden spoon and scolding Gnarl, who was hiding behind a couple Guard-Minions and cowering fearfully.

"Uh…" He blinked behind his helmet, and Ruby smiled widely.

"Hi Jaune!" She waved the spoon, Gnarl and the Guard-Minion's eyes never leaving the spoon like its very existence was a threat. "I'm trying to get Gnarl to help me bake some cookies, but he won't help me, like, at all with it."

"Young Mistress, that is not why the Forge exists- Please, not the fingers!" The small Minion cowered again when Ruby gave him a look, and Jaune snorted amusedly at the action, shaking his head, "Master, please, help! Your loyal, humble, brilliant Head Minion needs your help!"

It was good to be home, Jaune thought as he stepped forward and plucked his helmet off his head, "Let's get to baking, then, guys. Cookies sound great right now, it's freezing out there and activating that Portal-Shrine was exhausting."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	13. Chapter 13

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"These are actually pretty good, Ruby. Thanks for making them." Jaune noted, tossing the last bit of one of the small cookies into his mouth and humming at the sweet with a hint of cinnamon aftertaste and reclining on his throne comfortably. "I don't think Gnarl is as, uh, 'happy' about that, though."

"You're welcome, and probably right too." Ruby answered, sitting on the stairs leading up to his throne with her legs crossed and the plate of freshly made cookies between them. He held his armored gauntlet out, and she dropped a cookie into it, humming and taking one for herself before asking, "So, how do you think we're going to get to Atlas?"

"We could warp there, maybe, but that… Leaves a few problems for me." Jaune suggested hesitantly, pitching the cookie to his other hand and running his thumb over the top of it absently. "People are going to ask questions about me if we just waltz into Vale like nothing ever happened, and I can't take my army with me. The Minions would attract way too much attention."

"I mean…" Ruby shrugged, nibbling on the edge of her own cookie in thought and drumming fingers on the tile next to her, "What if we just walked to Atlas, then? Or asked Miss Emilia if she has some way to get us there?"

"It's too far to walk, Young Mistress, even our Overlord would fall to the elements and the Grimm in time over such a distance." Gnarl said, appearing from the door to the side and back from his throne, carrying a furled scroll of parchment under an arm as he came. "The distance to Atlas itself is too far, and that's by design. A defence against attack, you see, from a time when the only things which flew were black and covered in bone."

"So walking, bad." Ruby nodded, smiling and offering the plate to the Head Minion, "Cookie, Gnarl? They're really good. Like, some of the best cookies I have had in a really long while, since I was a lot younger."

"Hmmm…." Gnarl plucked one from the plate, pinched between two hands while he inspected it. Grimacing, he looked to Jaune, and the young Overlord smiled in amusement and gestured for him to go on. Sighing, the Minion plopped it into his mouth, chewing for a second before plucking three more from the plate and grumbling, "Acceptable, I suppose… Probably because of the Forge."

"Admit it, Gnarly, you like the cookies I made. It was a good idea, wasn't it?" Ruby teased, actually giggling when the wizened creature growled at her but didn't say anything. "I knew you would~"

Instead of respond to her, the old Minion climbed the steps to the Throne and handed the scroll to his Overlord, sighing and saying, "A map of the region, Master. A touch out of date in places, but the coastline and the mountains haven't shifted too terribly, so it should be… Er, functional, I suppose."

"We will get lost in a blizzard and freeze?" Jaune asked, the Minion shrugging and waving a hand in a so-so gesture. So Jaune sighed, shaking his head and unfurling it, looking at the map for a few long seconds. Finally, he sighed, and said, "I have no idea how to read this map, Gnarl."

"For the sake of all the evil cookies in the world - Don't read into that, Young Mistress." He said when the young woman brightened and smiled at him, the Minion grimacing and glaring at her petulantly before shoving the sweet treats into his maw and taking the map from Jaune, "Blasted Mistress that wants all the cookies in the world, an Overlord that can't read a map for Evil's sake, this is going just splendidly."

"Gnarl…" Jaune chided warningly, raising an eyebrow and drumming his unarmored fingers on his helmet at the end of his armrest.

"Yes, yes, let an old Minion grumble, would you, Master?" Gnarl sighed, waving a clawed hand in his direction as he scanned over the map and paced in front of Jaune's throne. "We could try and connect the Portal-Shrines on the way, I suppose. Or even build more of them outright, move steadily closer until we can march the last bit to Atlas proper. But… That will take some time, Master."

"How long?"

"Months, I fear, my Lord." The Minion sighed, running a clawed and gnarled finger along the coast of Atlas for him to see, "We could walk near to the continent's edge, that's the fastest way, but lugging the stone for each Portal-Shrine will be resource and time intensive. Merely getting the stone required would be impossible unless you subjugate Miss Emilia and her little camp, and force them to work to our ends."

"We are not enslaving them, they're my friends. Close ones, at this point, and I won't betray them like that just to make my life a bit easier." Jaune almost snapped, as much to quell Gnarl's impulses as to calm down the panicked looking Ruby. It worked, Gnarl rolling his eyes with an aggrieved sigh and Ruby relaxing and returning to the few cookies left on the plate. After a moment, Jaune nodded as he made a decision, "Send for Emilia and Shaun, I need to speak with them."

"I- You want to have them both come here?" Gnarl asked, sounding surprised and shocked. Jaune nodded, and he snorted derisively at the idea until Jaune's level gaze met his meaningfully and he spoke, "Forgive me for saying, Master, but do you truly trust them both so? To invite Miss Emilia here is one thing, Master, and understandable from a pragmatic perspective. But her and her foreman, and for such delicate and… Private matters as these?"

"I gave you an order, Gnarl." Jaune growled, even Ruby seeming surprised and turning to look at him. Jaune didn't back down though, instead raising the Gauntlet and pointing a single sharp finger at him, "I want you to go and ask them to come here, so that I can discuss my lans wit them, Gnarl. So please, do as I ask."

"O-Of course, mighty Overlord. I shall see the map returned to its proper place and depart, then." Gnarl nodded, rolling the map up and turning to head upstairs.

"That was intense… Are you feeling okay, Jaune?" Ruby commented, Jaune nodding and slowly rose from his throne, reaching behind him for his axe and using it like a walking stick to walk down the entry-hall and around the Portal-Pool, heavy boots and steel tip of his weapon's shaft making metallic sounds as he went. "Jaune?"

"Just tired, Ruby. I'm fine, though, I promise." He half-heartedly called back to her, leaning against the black stone brickwork and looking out at the early-evening terrain of Atlas stretching out as far as he could see around them. Boreal forest covered in snow, and in the distance, gleaming mountain-caps, the sun flashing off snow and ice and stone. "Quite a few. I had to die to see it, so… I guess it should be?"

"So that's what this is about." Ruby said, joining him at the opening onto the balcony, leaning against the other column in spite of the chill she felt from the wind outside. He turned his head slightly to see her, shivering slightly in the cold in her too-light outfit, only really wearing her pants and sleeping shirt. Still, she smiled at him, nodding her head, "It is a pretty sight, yeah. Definitely worth almost, you know… Getting shot."

"Yeah, you-" He blinked, shaking his head and looking outside, his Gauntlet's presence weighing heavily on his mind once again. But why now? Why right now, when all he was doing was standing with Ruby.

"Jaune?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, and the weight intensified on his mind once again.

The sunlight bounced off the snow and ice against her, lighting her from below and casting shadows along her throat and the back of her face, but cast the front in stark relief against it and lit the silver of her eyes brightly. The weight intensified on his mind and his arm, like a chilling hand at the back of his head and a heavy weight tied to his hands, pushing him and pulling him towards something. Nudging him towards-

"You, uh, you look cold, Ruby." He said suddenly, the weight on his mind waning as he stepped towards a surprised looking Rose and shoulder off his heavy cloak. She let him put it around her shoulders, tugging it more snugly as he stepped back and leaned against the other wall again, nodding, "Better?"

"Uh, yeah. Thanks, Jaune." She nodded, raising an eyebrow at him and then shaking her head, turning to look outside again. After a few quiet minutes, just watching the horizon pleasantly, Ruby spoke again. "So, you going to tell me what's bothering you, or are we just watching the sun set?"

"I…" He sighed, shaking his head slowly and grimacing, "Ruby, I died. I lied and cheated my way into Beacon, and I died for that. And now I'm in Atlas, with you, admiring the sunset in my Tower full of evil Minions..."

"It's… It's a heck a lot, yeah." Ruby nodded, pushing off the wall after a second and coming over to his side, wrapping an arm around his armored torso and hugging him, the heavy fur curtains falling behind them and leaving them in the reflected light from the sun. After a moment's hesitation he laid his hand on her shoulder, and she sighed, "I cried, when you died, you know. I cried… So much, my eyes started to ache."

"I'm sorry." Was all he could say, and somehow he knew she understood what he meant by that. She hummed as though to confirm it, leaning against him quietly, and he tried to think of something else to say. Aside from how much taller he was than her, like this, of course. He doubted she'd like that and instead asked, "Why, though? You barely knew me."

"You were still my friend, you dingus." She chided him gently, bumping her head against his armored chest as though to punish him somehow. All it did was draw his attention down, and to look at the crown of her head and the tip of her nose under her hair from his view. He refused to let his gaze ander further, though, and looked out at the surroundings again instead while she spoke, "And when you… When you died, it hurt everyone there. We all fought together, and you died. That hurt, and kinda still does, Jaune."

"Being on my end wasn't that great either." He sighed, smiling at the small joke and shaking his head when she bumped her head against him again. "Sorry, Ruby, just… Trying to lighten the mood."

"I know, but… Don't." She said quietly, actually looking up at him with those bright eyes and smiling comfortingly, though all it did was make his heart pound even harder for some reason he couldn't quite place. "It's a good thing to talk about, Jaune. It's okay to have baggage about all this, I don't mind, you know... Helping."

Unbidden and unconsciously, his Gauntlet came up, and Ruby almost flinched at the cool metal when he gently cupped her cheek, running his thumb along it gently. After a second, though, she leaned into it and her smile softened. The hand on her shoulder slid down to the small of her back, pushing her against him, and he leaned down while she turned and leaned up, lips parting slightly to-

"Ah, there you are, Master." The two squeaked in surprise, leaping away from each other, and Jaune spun with his Gauntlet held high. Gnarl, head tilted and brow raised over a mischievous smile, asked, "Was I, er, interrupting something, my Lord?"

"No!" Both squaked, exchanging awkward glances with flushed cheeks before Jaune cleared his throat and asked, "What did you need, Gnarl? We were… Talking, about some things, when you arrived."

"Talking, yes, I saw." Gnarl chuckled dryly, Jaune glaring at him until he waved it off, "Ah, don't fret, Highness. I was simply letting you know I would be departing, so you could prepare for Miss Emilia and her foreman. It shouldn't take long, once I impress upon them the importance of this meeting. I assume you want to make a good impression, after all, Master."

"Yes, I would." Jaune gave Ruby a glance, the girl actively looking anywhere that let her avoid his eyes, and then the Overlord sighed and looked back to his Head Minion and asked, "What do you suggest we do to get that right?"

"Well, Master… I have a couple ideas." Gnarl smiled, a wide and toothy grin splitting his small face as he brought his hands together, "Let me explain, my Lord of Evilness."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I thought that Overlord had to activate these?" Emilia asked, shivering in the cool air inside the Portal-Shrine - and gods, that was still a weird thing to even think about - and wishing that the braziers had also been installed inside the damn thing. "And can we hurry, please? It's quite chill in here."

"You could have worn your normal outfit." Shaun chided gently, chuckling when the woman glared up at him, and backing away with his hands held up in mock surrender. "Fine, fine, forget I said anything. You would have been warmer, though."

"Wearing a formal suit is far more appropriate when going to meet a client or person of esteem than winter-wear, Shaun." She sighed, adjusted the pale white suit she was wearing, pulling the jacket closer around her.

It was normal Atlesian-wear, with a military style to it as well for some Atlesian flare, if a bit cheaper in both directions than she'd like. With padded shoulders, two sets of six shiny, copper buttons on either side of the jacket's opening, one side folded over the other in a standard military dress style. A silver stripe shot up the outer seam of the jacket and her pants, over a heavier than she would have preferred set of boots that kind of stuck out. Her dark hair was tied in a short bun under a small cap, silver silk falling behind her head decoratively.

Shaun, to her annoyance, didn't have anything formal to wear. And instead, he was just standing next to her in his normal, heavy work attire. He caught her grimace, and sighed, "Stop glarin' at me for my clothes, Boss, nothin' I could do 'bout it. Not on a stonecutter's salary, and not on such short notice."

"To answer your question, Miss Emilia, Portal-Stones themselves do require the Overlord to activate, or myself with his blessing. And even then, the, er, well there's other road blocks suffice to say." Gnarl interrupted somewhat impatiently, walking to each of the sigils carved onto the stone and tapping his foot on them until they started glowing dimly. As the last lit up, he smiled, "Ah, there we go."

"So, what do we do-"

Around them, the stone hummed as lightning or something like it lanced up from the sigils and danced along the edges. The small building warmed rapidly, enough that the two guests' ears popped from the sudden change, and they staggered as wind buffeted them and then sucked them towards the center of the Portal-Shrine. Shaun grabbed her and tried to prop them both up, and she almost screamed at the sudden vertigo and wind she felt, like they were trying not to be pulled off a cliff to their deaths.

And then they staggered forward, pulled by their own momentum, in a grand hallway with Minions spaced evenly to either side like guards. Looking down the way, she saw the Overlord in his throne, wearing his armor and helmet and drumming his armored fingers on the stone of his seat while he watched them with the young woman she'd met before beside him. She straightened quickly, trying to make herself presentable again, and he chuckled loud enough that she could hear it echo menacingly off the walls around them.

"The Portals take some getting used to, I admit, Miss Emilia." He said, leaning on his less-armored hand, waving the Gauntlet around himself in a wide and lazy half-circle, "Welcome to the Dark Tower, Emilia Frosti, and Shaun Weiss. My home, here in Atlas' frozen lands. Tell me, what do you think of it? Your stone went towards most of this, after all."

"It's…" Terrifying, she wanted to say, but given the dozen halberd-wielding Minions watching her and Shaun walk towards the throne, she figured that might not be a good answer to give, and instead said, "Impressive, to say the least. I have to say, I didn't think that simple stone bricks and raw cut would be able to… Do all of this."

"The Minions are not the cleverest creatures, but when it comes to hard labor…" Jaune shrugged, again gesturing at their surroundings with his Gauntlet, "Well, you can kind of see for yourself how good they do that kind of stuff. And Shaun can tell you all about how they handle fighting Grimm."

"I saw them fighting White Fang, if you remember." Emilia pointed out, giving the young woman next to the armored man a look and smiling softly, "Hello again, I don't think we've had proper introductions yet, Miss."

"Oh, uh," she stammered for a second, and then waved awkwardly, "Hi? I'm Ruby Rose, nice to, um, meet you?"

"Emilia Frosti," she nodded to the flustered young woman, looking back to the Overlord after a moment, thin eyebrow raising, "I'm assuming you brought me here for a reason? Your Head Minion seemed to imply so, at least. And beyond previous arrangements, as well with Shaun to accompany me, which was surprising."

"I have decided to try and put my abilities to work for Atlas, to… Take care of some other items I need dealt with." The Overlord explained simply, and even the most oblivious woman would know he wasn't being completely open about it. Which was fair, she supposed, he seemed a man of many secrets. "I needed to speak with you and Shaun about possible ways to get to Atlas. I don't have a way of my own."

"I could charter a craft to come out to the camp, but that would cost Lien. My shipments don't go straight to Atlas, they go past it to the coast, and then out of my hands. Or I'd let you ride on one of those." Emilia answered, shrugging when the metal master sighed on his throne, "There's not much else I can offer, and I don't have the Lien to cover it myself and still meet overhead, Overlord."

"I figured as much." He nodded, the woman raising an eyebrow at his statement and gesturing at one of his Minions. "I would not ask for charity, but rather for work for my people to pay our way. I offer Minions, fifteen of them, on contract to you in exchange for the Lien to charter a small craft for myself and Ru- Miss Rose."

"You'd… Give me Minions, for a chartered ride?" She asked, more surprised than she would prefer to admit. He nodded, and she smiled on reflex. She'd seen how durable the creatures were, and so long as they followed her instructions, they could easily double her output. "That would pay for a charter, yes. So long as they follow my orders and work as hard as my men and women already do."

"They will obey, and if they do not, I will come to make them obey." The Overlord informed her, "I have a Portal-Stone near to Vale and intend to connect more in any event, so I will be in the Tower and check in on them on occasion."

"If you have a way to get to Vale, why do you need us?" Shaun asked, arms crossed where he stood beside her. She was about to to say something to him, but the Overlord responded instead.

"Through Atlas, I can get to Vale and have a good reason to be there doing what I intend to, and make Lien at the same time." He explained politely, not seeming to mind the questions all that much. "If I just show up at Vale's gate, without reason or any identifying papers, then I might run into problems. And if I somehow don't, then I get into Vale and don't make Lien doing it."

"Nor do I make any Lien either, in that situation." Emilia added, turning to give Shaun a reproachful look. "This way gives him legitimate reasons to be there, and makes us both Lien in the process."

"Makes sense, yeah." Shaun sighed at her glare, "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Shaun. You just asked a question, after all, and we're all friends here." The Overlord himself shrugged, straightening before he rose, using his poleaxe like a walking stick in his less armored hand and closing the distance with the two as he spoke, "You're my allies, in all this. Never think you can't say something to me, or ask me a question. I might not be able to answer… But you can always ask."

"Understandable, and understood." Emilia said simply, nodding her head politely at him as he descended from his throne, doing so almost on instinct. Shaun did the same beside her, lowering his head as the Overlord descended, and Emilia was left to wonder why either felt that urge." What else did you need, Overlord?"

"Nothing, Gnarl just had some business to speak to you about, now that we've reached an agreement. And since we have no more business, and I have friends here," Clapping Shaun on the shoulder and raisaising his Gauntlet, and his voice along with it, he bellowed, "A table and chairs for my friends, so they can rest from the Portal's uncomfortable effect, eat some good food and enjoy the warmth inside the Tower."

The Minions were quick to act, half the guard-Minions vanishing through one of the doors they'd passed and emerging alongside a dozen more with a table of stone that they set in the middle of the long hall before chairs were brought up. Between the chairs and the stone walls was only a foot or so of space, but more than enough room. When she turned to the Overlord again, he had turned to Ruby and walked with her towards the door set into the back of the room.

She nodded, and came over to them, explaining, "The, um, Overlord is going to rest. He says he feels a bit tired, so he wants me to stay with you until you leave. He's okay," she rushed to add when the two grew concerned for something other than the bread and baked fish being brought out to the table, "he just wants to rest a bit, with everything coming up."

"He is going to be busy, yeah." Shaun agreed, looking at the woman stopped halfway between the throne and the table and calling, "Boss, he's fine, let him be his mysterious little self."

"Yeah…" Even if it felt off, she'd respect his wishes and leave him be.

Besides, the fish smelled wonderful to her.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Yes, Master, it is as you say." Gnarl answered, standing in his master's personal quarters, the room unchanged save for a large desk moved in front of the opening to the balcony. A map of what the Overlord called 'Vale' lay across the desk, pinned down by rocks at each corner. He tapped a spot on the map, untouched by men at the time of the map's making, "Beacon rests here, you say?"

"Yes." The blonde answered, nodding, "I remember the bay and the trees separating Beacon from the rest of Vale."

"Then there should be a cave system nearby with a Portal-Shrine inside it, and it is seemingly even an active one, though…" The Minion shuddered, remembering what they'd seen a while back when flipping through the remaining connextions, "I don't think it will be exactly fun getting it back under control. Or cheap, for that matter."

"Doesn't matter." Jaune sighed, shaking his head and reaching up to pluck the helmet off, eyes glowing dimly when he looked down at the creature. A gaze familiar to the small Minion, but one that warmed its dead little heart to see. "We need it, and even if we didn't, I don't like not controlling a way straight into the center of the Tower."

"Then I shall get a few scouts to go to Vale, with your permission and your opening the Portal-Stone you used before." Gnarl nodded, stepping off the small stool and bowing his head, "By your leave, Master."

"Good night, Gnarl." Jaune said with a sigh, turning to the bed and adding, "Make sure that Emilia and Shaun are treated well, and see them back to their own home at the end of the night personally, Gnarl. That's an order, by the way."

"Of course, of course. And good night to you, as well, Lordship." He nodded, turning and leaving without another word to offer.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	14. Chapter 14

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Official Supporters: 

Grand Priestess, Luna Haile -

High Priest, Alvelvnor

Priest, The Impossible Muffin, Priest, Xager the Chaos King 

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Initiate, Final Heaven 63, Initiate, Greg Gibson

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM one of us for details or join our discord. Server ,.for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, and remember to post a Review/Comment to let me know what you liked and didn’t. 

So, Fanfiction will not let me link to discord. So, I apologize to every single FF reader for this, but please PM me for a join link. And please consider doing so, I enjoy chatting with you lot. On AO3, the link is viable : https://discord.gg/2UZncAm

If I could trick FF into thinking this is not a link here it is (delete the spaces and turn):  
D iscord . gg (slash) kfhkfUb

Betas for This Chapter : 

XxX----XxX----XxX

He barked a harsh, mocking laugh at the petty volley of shoddy arrows fired from weak boys, arms spreading wide as the Overlord bellowed, "Fine then, strike me with your pathetic arrows if you want to, make it sporting for me at the very least! If you even can make it sporting, of course!"

The arrows whistled through the air and he smiled widely behind his helmet, feeling his heart hammer in his chest at the danger that whistle instinctively pulled forth in his body. Not his mind, however, because he knew that the carved, black steel that encased his every inch, enchanted by the sacrifices of a thousand Minions that had been gained over a year of plunder and conquest and ravaging of lands and cities right alongside the dull silver chainmail under that, would stand against pathetic arrows fired by desperate men and women from their flimsy, hand-made weapons atop their crumbling at best fortifications.

The thousands of Minions he'd brought to the field for this were arrayed a dozen feet behind him in barely orderly rows that were themselves more smaller hordes than actual units. At the sight of the arrows coming down, some scattered back and scrambled against each other for safety while others armed with small wooden shield they'd made or found tried to use them for cover as they'd seen Humans and Faunus do against their own projectiles when they had them.

He heard, and distantly through his Gauntlet's connection to the creatures felt, the arrows that didn't strike at him directly cut them down in screaming and snarling messes. Looking over his shoulder, he saw the dead and dying Minions caught by the attacks, and smiled as the others swarmed back to where they'd stood and roared as he raised his Gauntlet high over his head.

"Forward!" Jaune screamed, smiling maniacally behind his mask as the creatures shot past him and arrows once again started lancing down around him. Few bothered firing at him, but arrows lanced off his armor as he hefted his greatsword and lumbered towards the gate anyways.

The small gate door blocking access into the city, made of logs lashed together by thick rope and unable to even hide those behind it from view, was useful in holding off his Minions. Spears and converted farm implements shot through whatever gaps there were, impaling Minions before drawing back. The creatures kept closing on the ropes, hacking at them but being driven back before they could do anything, and he brought his Gauntlet back in a fist as he closed with it and slammed a pummelling blow against the thing before even his Minions could react properly.

The wood cracked and then splintered under his blow, exploding back in a burst of Mana-fire that scorched the men and women who had stood behind it. Some died screaming, others fell without a sound lacking limbs and burned to cinder, and still more were pulled down by Minions and torn apart alive and screaming by his Minions while he lumbered through the gate and brought his sword up in one hand to catch the downward slash of a man in once-shining armor of white and silver.

"Monster!" The man, young from his echoing voice, snarled as the Overlord shoved him back and the Minions swarmed past him into the city. Fear coursed through through him as he stared up at the giant monster, his quivering hands clenched around the handle of his sword, shaking as he held the long weapon and roaring over the cacophony around them, "You will fall to me, Overlord, and your Minions will fall to those who rally at your death!"

The armor was grandiose as befitting a noble line, as the Overlord has suspected whoever was behind this little city's resistance would be, and yet the sword clutched in his hands was nothing more than a simple longsword. His cape was torn and faded from crimson to dull red as well, and the armor was faded looking and scratched beyond what this battle could have done. Old.

"Who are you, boy?" The Overlord demanded simply, planting his sword's blade in the ground and leaning on it lightly like a cane. "And whose armor is that, because I am no fool to think it is yours."

"I am Alphonse of D'Arc Village." The knight replied shakily after a second, lowering the blade barely an inch as he spoke. "And this armor was my master's, before you butchered him in his bed. Along with my home."

"And you, boy, think to stand against me? Alone?" He laughed, wrenching his sword from the soft ground, slinging mud on the faux-knight's armor mockingly and barking a laugh at him as he lumbered forward. "Let me know if you choose to yield, boy. Someone with your gall might make a fine servant to amuse myself with. After you show me where this 'D'Arc Village' is, I'm afraid I have forgotten all about it."

"Aaah!" The boy shrieked, lunging in with a clumsy, rage filled stab. The Overlord batted it aside with his Gauntlet, swinging his massive greatsword at the young fighter's leg, hard enough that when the weapon connected plated armor buckled and broken and he sank as the bone and flesh below gave out in the middle of his shin with a sickening crack.

Still, the Overlord noted with pleasure, the warrior swung the blade at his chest. The blow glanced off and he brought his Gauntlet down on the regal helmet he had stolen, driving him to his back, his broken leg sticking out unnaturally as the Overlord planted a boot atop his chest and buried the blade in the dirt beside his head close enough to tilt it so the blade pressed against the mailed throat.

And yet, even still with the city burning and himself pinned and broken under the dark lord of Evil, the warrior brought that plain longsword up to try and stab at the back of his knee behind the plated armor in the hopes of crippling him. The mail and leather stopped it, but it drew a chuckle from the older Overlord nonetheless as his Gauntlet closed around the blade and bent it away into a useless circle of once-sharp steel. And even once he'd been deprived of that, still he fought, driving punches into the man's shins.

With a tired but amused sigh the Overlord hefted his sword and brought the tip down on his left shoulder's pauldron and tore through it with ease, as if it was made of paper. The blade bore no sign of stopping and ripped through tissue and bone as if it was nothing and then sank beyond into the blood soaked soil beneath.

The boy cried out, and the Overlord laughed as he finally went still, asking him mockingly, "Is that all you had for me?" When the knight didn't answer, just heaving in breath through the weight on his chest and hissing exhales from the pain in his crippled shoulder, the Overlord tutted and rose. Wrenching the blade free of the foolish fighter's shoulder and holding it over his chest, he explained, "You should have known not to fight me alone, boy."

"I d-didn't." He weakly wheezedout, the Overlord blinking behind his mask as he felt something pull at his mind before the boy himself looked to the side in the same direction.

Looking to the side, he saw a small girl with red hair and bright green eyes glaring at him. A poor girl, he noted with a widening grin, with a cut and bleeding cheek and a torn burlap sack for a dress. He could tell the minions would enjoy this one, when they got their claws on her, if he didn't adopt her. She had fight in her, he could see it.

"A girl?" He barked a laugh, sparing the boy a glance before shaking his head at the boy. "What is she supposed to- Agh!"

He cried out as lightning slammed into his side and crackled against his Gauntlet, arcing along his arm and into his chest as the muscles spasmed and his armor began to glow cherry hot from the heat. Wide and frantic yellow eyes met green again, but this time the latter was wreathed in fire, her hands outstretched as lightning arced down from the heavens to them and then into him. Roaring in pain and rage, he took a single step towards her before he sank to his knees, blinking and wheezing for air in a numb and nerveless body as he called the Minions to save him.

Instead, the wounded warrior forced himself to straighten on his broken leg's knee and pulled a pulsating dagger from his belt, etched with gold and humming with magic, and said, "I told you you would fall to me."

Unable to move, and with lightning crackling from the girl around them all as the Minions swarmed towards them, he was forced to watch as the dagger rose and then punched down at the juncture between his neck and shoulder. The magical weapon cleaved apart his armor like so much warm butter had taken the place of the cold steel, or perhaps the lightning had melted it sufficiently, but either way he felt hot blood flow forth as he fell back and stared into the darkening sky.

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Jaune jerked awake in the small bus they'd gotten on from where Emilia's Bullhead had dropped them off to Ruby shaking his shoulder, using the snout of the wolf that guarded his left side as leverage to move most of him and asking, "You awake, Ja- Overlord? We're, uh, about to be at Atlas, the driver said I should get you up for when we land. Since you have the papers Miss Emilia gave you and, you know... Stuff."

"I'm up." He grunted, using his less armored had to work at cracking his neck and trying to massage the crick out of it. Groaning and shaking off the dregs of sleep he asked, "Did you get any sleep, Ruby?"

"No. I mean, I got a little, but… Ugh." She sighed, adjusting the thin cloth mask she'd been given to wear and sighed. It was little more than a thin black cloth mask wrapped around her head to cover the lower part of her face. "This thing makes breathing annoying…"

"It's necessary for a while. Sucks but needs must, as they say." Jaune said simply, tapping his helmet to make the rest of his point for him and then shrugging. "You'll get used to it eventually, Ruby."

"Yeah, right when I can take it off, knowing my luck." She whined, watching the massive walls around Atlas loom through the snow as they rolled up to the great gate into the City where the Kingdom's power was nestled before excitedly jumping and running to lean over a seat and look up, squealing, "I can see an Atlesian battleship up there!"

Pushing off the seat he was on Jaune slid past her hips in the walkway and leaned down over another seat, pressing his helmet against the glass in an effort to look up into the sky. True to Ruby's words, a massive ship lumbered through the sky, and she started bouncing in her seat when craft tilted to the side and angle a flank down before lights lit up along the side in fires Jaune recognized as Dust explosions. Cannons, he guessed after another cycle of firing before the craft righted and moved off, probably supporting something nearby on the ground.

He tried to follow the arcing trails left behind but tall, metal walls blocked his sight before he could and the bus came to a stop. A second later he heard the driver shout, "Off ya get, now. Head on down the road to the checkpoint and they'll let you in, but you can't ride with me. Too damn many Faunus sneakin' in and blowin' shit up."

"White Fang, you mean." He corrected, grabbing his axe from a rack overhead and then slamming the bottom into the floor of the bus when the bus driver started to argue. The portly man flinched, and he nodded to Ruby when she pulled at his arm, "I know, Ruby, but people like him-"

"You some kinda animal lover?" The man asked, drawing a sigh from Ruby as Jaune turned to glare at the man.

"Leave it, Overlord, he's not worth wasting your time on. Or the trouble." Ruby said quietly, hand wrapping around his lightly armored wrist and tugging him along gently towards the front of the bus and out of it.

"Thank you, Ruby." He said after he'd watched the bus pull away and head into the city, talking to the young woman as they walked towards the guard and she tugged him along gently by his wrist. "I… Had a weird dream, I guess. The Gauntlet…"

"Hm?" She gave him a look, then the armored piece on his arm, "What about it?"

"...Nothing." He sighed, shaking his armored head. "Just in a mood is what I was trying to say, so thanks for not letting me start something with that racist old fart on the bus. The last thing I, we, need is trouble with the Atlesian law."

"Are you, um, okay?" She asked, slowing down and keeping a grip on his wrist to make him slow down as well. Unless he wanted to yank his arm free, at least, and hurt Ruby's feelings in the process. He turned his helmet to regard her and she added, "You seemed kind of… Upset on the bus. More than normal. And last night…"

"W-With Emilia you mean? I-I thought, you know, that it went really well. Even though I had to duck out to get some rest and deal with stuff." He asked, feeling his face heating up in spite of the cold Atlesian weather around them.

"N-No… We almost… You know…" She chewed her lip, glancing between him and the ground twice over before speaking finally in a quiet voice. "N-Nevermind. It's not, you know, important or anything."

"I… I'm sorry." He said quietly, coming to a stop and forcing her to as well. The small woman turned to look at him and he sighed, looking around anxiously before walking over to the barrier-wall that shielded the road from the snow and wind, leaning against it and sighing tiredly when she joined him. "I'm… Sorry if it upset you, Ruby. I really am. I just, sort of… Did it. I'm really sorry if it upset you."

"I-It didn't, I just…" She wrung her hands together, glanced at his mask, blushed, and looked back to the snow under her boots. "I don't know… I felt like I was being, I don't even know how to say this, but… Pushed, I guess. Like something wanted me to let you d-do whatever you did."

Like him, he didn't say, eyes narrowing behind his helmet for a second. A nudge in the back of his mind, his arms moving almost without his consent, pushing him to kiss her. And more, he feared, as well. Like he was less himself, less a man, and more a puppet of something pushing him along to its own ends. But to what ends exactly, he had to wonder as his mind drifted to the Gauntlet.

He almost said as much to Ruby, but instead sighed and shrugged, "Maybe it was the moment? We got caught up in the romantic atmosphere, the stress, and… Everything else piling up?"

He'd ask Gnarl, first, demand answers of the small creature before he got Ruby all worked up over it.

"Oh." Ruby seemed to deflate, though, and his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Ruby?"

"I-I just thought you… I mean, you almost died to help me, so I just…" She shook her head and her voice cracked slightly, the woman turning to try and take a step away from him towards the gate. "Let's just go, we have stuff to do."

"No." His hand snapped out, wrapping around her wrist and holding her there. She turned to him, then looked to the hand, and tried to pull free. But her small frame was no match for his in raw power, and she gave up while he spoke, "I do care about you, Ruby. I just… I don't know where I begin and the Gauntlet's influence begins anymore, and… I don't want you to get involved with one of those and end up dealing with the other. You know?"

"I… Get it, I'm just… It confused me, you know?" She sighed, turning back to him, and he let her go now so she could speak. "I mean, first you were dead, and then I thought I was going to die too, and then you… Weren't dead. And that was confusing enough, but…"

"But there's so much more going on, you know?" She finally almost yelled, flinching at the volume of her voice and turning to look at the guards. They looked at her, one taking a couple steps towards them questioningly until she waved him off, and then she turned back to him. "All of that, and then you're alive, and almost died again. For me. And then we're outside, looking at that beautiful scenery, and… And you held me, a-and I liked it… Like, a lot."

"I, um, I liked it too." He offered, throat suddenly annoyingly dry at the turn the conversation had taken. She gave him a look and he grimaced behind his mask, unsure of how to say what he wanted. "I, uh, don't understand all of this, but… But it was nice to just enjoy the sights and h-hold you."

"Y-Yeah? Seriously?" She asked, taking a hesitant half step forward when he gave her a curt nod, then looking at the soldiers at the gate and then back to him and then to the ground again.

Taking a breath, she closed with him and leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his armored torso as best she could. He hesitated, unsure of what to do until she murmured, "Please, just for a minute… Just let me have this, before we run off to-to Evil knows where, and you get shot again, or-or something else happens to one of us."

"I…" He sighed, wrapping his lightly armored right arm around her smaller back and holding the back of her head with the palm, wishing that the hood wasn't in the way so he could run his fingers through it but sighing as he let himself enjoy the simple affection in the contact. "Okay. We have time, after all. No rush."

"Thanks…" She murmured, pressing against him, soft curves of her own body meshing against the hardened armor of his own.

He could spare the ten minutes they ended up using, especially for something like that. And when they made their way to the gate, aside from some teasing looks from a couple guards, the awkwardness between them was gone and their moods improved.

Inside of Atlas, nothing was all that different than it had been outside, beyond the obvious presence of what people needed to get by. Rows of white buildings, one after another and all with the Atlesian flag flying high above them. Soldiers walked by in groups of twos and threes, rifles in relaxed but ready grips across their chests, on patrol throughout the area but without a single civilian to see so far. For a foolish and naive moment, he wondered if Atlas was nothing but a military. That vanished though, inside a second, when a woman walked by in a fur-lined dress and hanging off a soldier's armored arm.

"Hunters? Looking to contract?" A guard asked in a helpful tone as he approached, on normal patrol with his fellow just behind him. He was quick to add, "Last outbound is leaving soon, so if you are, I can see about giving you a hand if you want."

They nodded and he returned the gesture, reaching up to touch a hand to the side of his helmet, "Command, sending traffic to you, standing by for a confirm." A second passed and he spoke, "Two Hunters here, looking to sign in, permission to deviate from patrol pattern to assist?"

"Alright," he started after a second, "I'll lead you to a registry center, get you sorted out." Turning, he spoke to the other soldier, "You are to wait here, attach to the next pair on patrol unless you see anything. Follow?"

"Follow." The soldier confirmed in a high voice, a woman's Jaune realized after a second. The armor hid that, probably on purpose, under the heavy armor she wore. She stepped to the wall and put her back to it, nodding to the armored warrior and the smaller woman behind him, "Good hunting, Sir and Ma'am. We can always use a couple more Hunters on hand. You guys save lives out there, ,just wanted a chance to thank you for it ahead of time."

"O-Oh, um, thank you." Ruby smiled, clearly flustered either from their time outside or the woman's words. "But, um, you're braver than us. We have Aura, claws and, you know, stuff just bounce off most of the time. If a Beowolf gets ahold of you, though…" she shivered, and met Jaune's eyes, "Only a very, very brave person would fight the Grimm without Aura to protect them. Right, Overlord?"

"Overlord?" The male soldier said, sounding surprised, "Kind of an odd name…"

"I, uh-"

"He lost his village when he was little, and took the name on ever since." Ruby was quick to jump in, a story Emilia had already worked out the night before. A lie, and one Ruby told surprisingly easily. "Someone gave him the nickname at some point, he said, and he just kind of… Kept it, since he doesn't remember his own."

"That's rough… Man, I'm sorry for your loss, Overlord. And for any offence I caused as well, I didn't know the story behind the name. I hope my attitude won't reflect in your opinion of Atlas' military itself and will happily give you my numbers if you want to file a complaint." The soldier nodded, turning after an awkward second and an equally awkward nod from Jaune and speaking over his shoulder, "Follow me regardless, then, and we'll get you sorted. Command is holding the last outbound just for you, we need every hand on deck in Vale after the Breach incident."

"The Breach? I, uh, I heard a few things about it but work out in the wilds. You mind filling it in for me while we walk?" Jaune asked, coming up beside the man as they walked and listening to him relay details to him about the event.

No news was good news was what his dad always said, and the more he learned the more he called that bullshit. No news was the worst kind of news, because you had no clue what the hell to expect.

"Hell, welcome to the Atlesian Auxiliary Specialist Registration office." The tired man said once the guard had explained everything to them and said his goodbyes to each of them to head back on patrol. He wore the same armor as the man had, which struck Jaune as odd given he only sat behind a desk and did paperwork, but Jaune still saw wrinkles on his cheeks that told of old age. "We're holding the last outbound Atlesian craft for the evening for you, so I'm sorry if it seems rude, but we need to hurry up."

"Sign your names here, I understand you work on the frontier so if you lack a home settlement just label it as 'frontier Hunter' and it will be categorized properly. I have also been briefed on your name, Mister Overlord, and provided the requisite 'lost record' signature forms." He pantomimed turning the page over and Jaune did so, finding a check-box form asking how he'd lost it, the name if he could remember it, and so on. "Those are also consent forms clearing the Atlesian military of responsibility should you fail to disclose information and suffer bodily harm for doing so."

Producing two pens for them, and smiling under his helmet pleasantly, he also explained, "Food and water will be provided gratis for your services, and pay will be as well after each sub-contracted mission and once per week. Please sign and let me know if you have any questions."

"Where will we be, er, deployed to?" Jaune asked while Ruby bent over next to him and started scratching away at the paper and humming pleasantly while she bounced her hips slightly to her own tune.

"You will both likely be attached to units bolstering guard perimeters throughout the forested regions inside Vale's wall or serving as security assistance for Amity Colosseum itself or Beacon." He answered in a chipper voice, "If you have a preference, there is also a 'deployment request' form you can fill out. It doesn't guarantee you will be put there, but it won't hurt."

"Yes please!" Ruby almost shrieked excitedly, taking the forms from the chuckling man and looking up at Jaune with wide, innocent and happy eyes. "Come on, hurry up, we gotta go~!"

"Fine, Ruby." He sighed, smiling behind his mask and leaning down to work on his own forms.

He didn't notice when his Gauntlet rose to rest on Ruby's small back comfortably, and though she very much did, she didn't say anything about it. She didn't have any complaints about it, after all, and they had forms to fill out, so why bother?

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	15. Chapter 15

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"They won't say anything if you don't want, Jaune." Ruby whispered, leaning against his shoulder so that she could speak low enough only he could hear in the sparsely populated Atlesian military shuttle. He hummed, drumming his heavily armored fingers on his leg absently, and Ruby poked his chest, "Hey. Talk to me."

"I'm just… Not scared, I guess." He sighed, taking a deep breath full of the smell of flowers, grease, Dust and oil that Ruby put off almost constantly. "I'm anxious. It's not every day that someone rises from the dead, you know? Like, how will they even react to that?"

"I… I don't know." She admitted quietly, shrugging against him. "I-I guess that depends on what you want to do. I mean, you're alive, so you could try and get back into Beacon. As strong as you are, you'd pass whatever test they put you through. S-So, um, what is it you want to do? C-Cause, you know, if we want to, um, stay together at all- N-Not together-together, I mean, but-"

"I do, Ruby." He cut her off, the girl's jaw clicking shut suddenly and managing to draw a chuckle from him despite his foul mood. "I like, you know, having you around. But… I have commitments in Atlas, now. I've given my word to a lot of… Er, people, I guess Gnarl counts as one of those. Right?"

"Kind of?" Ruby smiled at the weak humor, so slightly he almost missed it, and relaxed a little next to him. "But what are you going to do, then, Jaune? I need to know so I can, you know… Not mess it up."

And there was the question again, and he didn't have an out to get away from dealing with it. As irresponsible an urge as that was, enough he knew he wouldn't take it, but still. Now he was pinned down.

"I... I don't know. I really don't. I don't want to stay 'dead' for any longer than I have to, but… I have to, I have people depending on me.." He answered after several minutes, watching the Kingdom loom closer as details on the wall began to just barely begin to move into visibility.

Nothing more than the edges of structures he'd seen far away coming into clearer focus, and smaller things like poles and antennas backlit by the sky beyond the wall itself. Enough to mark a passage of distance for him, though. And enough to urge him to make a decision in the time he had, that he knew was rapidly starting to dwindle into nothing and slip right through his fingers like so much sand.

"Then… We'll lie, if you want." His helmet snapped to her, and her frown deepened into a sour looking grimace for several seconds before she finally continued. "I really don't want to lie. Not to my friends, and not to Yang especially, but… But Gnarl, you, and Emilia need it. So," she gave him a look, a small smile under sad eyes, "if you say to lie, then I will."

"Why? You just said you didn't want to."

"Because you need me to, obviously, you dork." Her smile brightened and she bumped her shoulder against his in a friendly way before sitting up and sighing almost tiredly, head leaning back against the headrest to stare up at the ceiling. "Jaune, you saved my life. And almost gave yours up to do it. And with, you know, whatever the actual frick is going on between us, whatever we actually are…"

Her hand slid down the side of his arm, small fingers intertwining with his and squeezing his hand gently, "If you need me to do something, I will. I'll fight if I have to, and lie too, as long as you need me to and don't, you know, be a really bad guy." Her hand squeezed his again and she smiled, "So just… come up with a plan."

After a few seconds, he smiled behind his mask and nodded, "We aren't lying to your friends, Ruby, but… We have to keep this a secret from everyone else." He jerked his head towards Vale, and Beacon, and continued, "We need to make a point of it to them that who I am is a secret, before we tell them."

"What are we going to tell them, though?" She asked, and wasn't that a question he didn't want to deal with right now. Or at all, if he was really honest, but it had to be dealt with for them to pull anything off.

"All passengers, we will be landing at Beacon Academy in ten minutes, those who are disembarking for contracted assignments with Beacon Academy, please disembark properly and in an orderly fashion." The vaguely synthesised voice called over the shuttle's speaker system, along with a couple other announcements lost in the flurry of soldiers and Hunters moving and getting their things ready.

He tensed, and Ruby noticed, squeezing his hand gently and rubbing a circle with her thumb on the back of his gloved hand just hard enough for him to feel it. "Hey, relax, okay? We'll be fine, once we land and meet up with Yang and my team. Just stay quiet, and keep your helmet on, until then. Okay? We'll just… decide how much to tell them when we meet them."

"If you trust them, then I trust them, Ruby." He sighed, giving her a nod. "We'll tell them the truth, I guess. See if they buy it."

"It is kind of a crazy story, huh?" Ruby giggled, looking out the window when the shuttle banked to the right gently and angled up to go over the wall and head towards Beacon itself, a short way past it. "We're about to land, so… I guess we're doing this."

"Yeah…" He sighed, grimacing as he saw Beacon finally come into sight.

A place where heroes were born and brought into the world, for the benefit of all Mankind and Faunuskind both. Full of potential and great goals, and a symbol that inspired hope in people across Remnant no matter their borders or names. A place of legends new and old, to stand against the forces of darkness and hold the light for all to see.

Also, where he'd gotten himself killed for being stupid. So he was willing to bet people would understand why he had some mixed emotions about the place. It wasn't ever day that someone got turned into so much red jelly at the bottom of a cliff and woke up in a bed to lord over an army of evil minions. Not that it made the whole 'dying horribly' bit all that much easier to get his little promotion.

Still, even with that, the view as they came towards Beacon was nothing short of majestic. Sun glinting off glass, flags of all kinds flying from the tops of buildings, the forest it was backdropped by and, if he looked hard enough, the scores of students going about their days without a care in the world and full of hope for their futures. That dark part of him that always piped up 'helpfully' asked how many would end up dead by their fourth year, and how many more inside a decade of graduation.

He told it to kindly sit on a cactus for his amusement while he watched. And preferably had popcorn.

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"Please wait outside on the landing pad, an administration official will be with you shortly." An armored soldier said as the passengers, mostly the Hunters who had been onboard and had of course been mostly put on contract by Beacon, filed to the front and out of the shuttle. "Please do not leave the landing pads. Wandering the halls will see you lose the best contracts with beacon to other Huntsman and Huntresses. And remember to take your sticky IDs and affix them to your chest once you disembark."

"'Hi, My Name Is Overlord'?" He read out quietly, leaning against a stack of crates in the crowded and loud landing area with his poleaxe laid against his shoulder and Ruby on top of the crates he leaned against, kicking her legs idly. "This is… Silly. Right, Ruby?"

"I mean, only for you, Tall Dark and, um… I don't know how to finish my joke." He snorted and, almost impossibly given the crowded area and the roar of speech around him, she managed to hear him and smacked his helmet. "Jerk. Just put on your sticker, okay? It looks like Atlas had a lot of people brought in."

"Yeah. I wonder what happened, to make them want this many people. And this is just Beacon, I think they're bringing in soldiers and Hunters to Vale too." Jaune said as his eyes wandered curiously, looking around the moderately large landing area Beacon had for Bullheads and whatever other shuttles or ships came in, at the end of the boulevard that cut through the center of the academy.

When Jaune had arrived on the original Bullhead, the landing area had been clean. No crates, or luggage laying around, or people idling in the area. Everything had been neat, orderly, with guides and signs posted and a preparatory announcement on what to do and where to go even before the Bullhead had landed. But this was different somehow, something in his mind told him without his even asking or knowing what it was.

His eyes drifted to the gem of his heavy Gauntlet and he grimaced, but shook it off after a second. Now wasn't the time to dwell on it, not when he had so much other crap to handle already.

"Hey." He stiffened in surprise when he felt something nudge his helmet, turning to see Ruby had rolled onto her side behind him and leaned close enough her face almost met his helmet. Her lips were pursed and eyes narrowed in concern, and she asked, "You okay?"

"Look around, Ruby. What do you see?" He asked, gesturing with his Gauntlet in a sweeping motion around them.

"Um… I dunno." He waited regardless, letting her look around and think. "Hunters, but not all from Atlas, I can tell that much. And crates, but… Those aren't all from the Atlesian military either. I see the Schnee logo, and Beacon's, and I think Vacuo's over there. And some others I don't actually recognize."

"Vale's military flag, a few village's own flags further on the frontier where they're independant, and a few shipping companies Emilia talked about and Ansel uses. Or used at least, been a while since I was there." He offered her, nodding his head towards the ones they were occupying. "This symbol, for instance, is from a small security firm my dad contracts in Ansel for security. They're small, maybe a few dozen fighters and a drone force. But Atlas hired them. Why?"

"Why wouldn't they?" Ruby asked instead of answering, and he hummed in thought, loud enough she'd hear and drumming the pointed fingers of his Gauntlet on his leg as he often did now.

"Why would they, though?" He responded after a bit, shaking his helmeted head and growling low in the back of his throat. "I don't know, Ruby. Something just feels… Off, around here. Like something has happened, or-or is going to… I just don't know. But I have a bad feeling."

"Are you sure it isn't just being back here?" She asked, and he actually had to consider it for a moment. " I mean, with what happened before, and the, you know… Conversations coming up it would make sense."

"That's not it…" He waved a hand at the surrounding people again, eclectic group of soldiers and Hunters that they were. "Atlas is handling security for the Vytal Festival, right?"

"That's what we were told, yeah." Ruby answered, brow knitting together cutely as she tried to follow what he was saying.

"But they don't tend to contract smaller security or shipping outfits, even I know that much. And they don't send those contracted people to other people to do work for them. They prefer to use contracted Hunters on military actions." He explained quickly, "So we'd be in Vale, or an Atlesian base, not Beacon."

"I mean, when you put it that way... " She sat up, dropping off a crate with a hand on her hood to hold it in place, and turned to look up at him, "It is kind of weird… But I don't know what any of it would mean."

"Neither do I, I just… It's a bad feeling, I guess. Like something's coming." Shaking his head, he reached for his axe and turned to the small woman. "Forget it, Ruby. I think that I'm just being paranoid, or that the Gauntlet is messing with me, or something. I guess we're just supposed to wait until someone shows up now?"

"I mean, we could also just… You know, leave." Ruby suggested instead, gesturing towards one of the buildings up the boulevard, "Head to the dorms, see if my team is there. Wait for them, maybe, or head to the cafeteria."

"I don't want to wait here for something to happen, but isn't getting caught a bit of a risk?" He asked, though he'd already turned and taken half a step towards the buildings with his mind mostly made up.

"I mean, kind of." She shrugged, smiling and starting to lead him up the academy's long, tree-lined path towards the buildings themselves.

Most of what he could see was just trees and open, grassy areas for students to enjoy and to make the place look nice, which at least meant no one to stop them wandering up. Though that security flaw boggled the mind a bit. Honestly, Beacon needed better security, between him getting into Initiation - though maybe he was being a bit petty there, since that got him killed - and this.

Still, gift horse, looking it in the mouth, and so on.

"But I'm kind of allowed to be here, student and all, so… Even if we got caught, the truth would be enough to get us out of, you know, whatever." Ruby continued as they walked, the young woman a bit stiff and anxious at breaking the rules the way she was.

She was so innocent and good right to her core, and for some reason he felt the urge to protect that.

"I'm… Kind of nervous, you know." She finally said after a few minutes of walking through the peaceful, wooded area. He hummed in question and she explained, "I mean, to them, I'm probably coming back from the dead. And you are coming back from the dead. And we're, I mean… Something."

"We are?" He asked in surprise, almost stumbling but managing to right himself with the haft of his pole-axe before he could cause a spectacle.

"Friends don't do half of what we've done, Jaune." She said quietly, flushing after a second and making a face under her hood, "Okay, um, that came out kind of wrong. But… but you get what I mean. Right?"

"I guess, yeah." He nodded, giving her a sidelong glance and asking, "What, uh, what are you going to say?"

"That you saved me, that you're my best friend, and…" She hesitated, shaking her head after a second and bowing it so that the hood hid her face, "And I don't know what else, but that should be plenty for my team. So… I guess that's it."

"Yeah." He agreed, feeling suddenly tense and curling his armored fist into a tight ball of sharp metal. Something was bother her, he could tell by how she squared her shoulders and walked, and the way she hid her face and stared at the floor as they went, but… She'd tell him when she decided to, he knew. "Which way to your dorm?"

"Oh, um, this way." She said, pointing with one hand while the other grabbed his wrist eagerly to pull him along. He saw her shoulders relax and smiled under his metal mask.

She'd let him know if something was bothering her when she was ready, he knew. Eventually, at least, and something about dying had given him a touch more patience for things than he may have had before.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Beacon's halls and walkways were, surprisingly enough, mostly abandoned by students and staff alike as they made their way through them. 'In class' Ruby had suggested when she asked, so it seemed her hopes that classes had been cancelled while whatever was going on right now was under way seemed not be the case.

So whatever was happening was extreme enough to warrant all the support being brought in, and seemingly in a rush, but evidently not enough to do something as simple as cancel classes. Or add security patrols to the surprisingly empty halls, though he'd noted the cameras every now and then, which meant that security had to know they were here. So either they didn't care enough to do anything, or were choosing not to. The first made him curious, and the second made him anxious.

But that wasn't important now, so he pushed it aside as Ruby held the door into the dorm-hall proper for him.

"You know," he started as the doors banged closed behind him and he stepped into Beacon's dormitory for the first time and looked around, "I never actually got to come in here… It's nice."

"Yeah, I never… Never really paid attention to it, though." She shrugged, shaking her hooded head as they walked. "You had died, and that was kind of a thing for me, because we were friends and you died with us, so… Yeah."

"I never did really say I was sorry for that, did I?" He asked quietly, grimacing behind his mask. Distantly, he wondered after his family and how they felt, but he forced aside those thoughts as quickly as they came. To be dealt with later.

"No, and I... I don't want you to apologize to me, Jaune." She in a quiet voice, slowing down so that he could walk beside her instead of following behind her. "This life we chose, to fight the Grimm and to protect people… People die doing it. They die all the time. My mom died when I was little, my dad almost died a while back, and Dust knows he's lost a lot of friends he made in Beacon, and you died too but you're still fighting, just like me and my dad and my uncle. Do you get what I'm trying to say?"

"It's part of who we are." Jaune guessed, and she nodded her head to let him know he'd guessed right. "That makes sense, I guess. If I apologize for that, then it kind of calls into question why I'm still fighting. And why you all are still fighting, too."

"Yeah. So… Just forget it, 'kay?" She asked, sounding bright and cheery again. Looking up at his mask and smiling widely, she added, "And besides, you aren't actually dead, and you're here with me now. So… It's all okay, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess." He said as they rounded a corner, "I mean, I can't really convince myself to be upset about it, given how much I've-"

"Ruby?! Ruby, is that you?" He heard a familiar voice shout, turning at the sound of footsteps pounding against the carpeted floor to see a familiar man rushing towards them.

"Tai?"

"D-Daddy?" Ruby half shouted and half squeaked in surprise, before the bear of a man slammed into her and enveloped her in a desperate bear hug.

"Ruby, oh Gods, Ruby… My precious little gem, oh brothers, I thought you were gone..." He pressed his face into the crook of her neck, his legs going almost limp under him and dragging her down with him. She didn't seem to mind it, though, clinging to him while the man let out a weak, whining cry, "I was so scared, Ruby, gods…"

"Daddy…" She sniffled, pressing against her father and digging her fingers into his shirt, desperate for something Jaune wasn't sure of. "I'm so sorry, I didn't- I was so scared, Daddy, I didn't…"

Pulling away from her slightly, face pressed almost against her own, he demanded, "What were you thinking, wandering off in the middle of the night without your weapon? I have half a mind to bend you over my damn knee right now!"

But he didn't, instead pulling her into his chest against and pressing kisses along the crown of her head, running his fingers through her hair and sucking in huge breaths like he was trying to verify her simple existence in every way he could, including smelling her. "Oh, forget it, I don't care right now… My precious, precious little gem is back."

"Tai is… You're Ruby's dad?" He sounded as confused as he felt, and then the man's red-ringed eyes locked onto his mask. And those blue eyes narrowed on his mask almost enough to scare the younger blonde. "Uh…"

"Lorde White?" He almost gasped, "You saved my daughter, too?"

"You're the one who saved my dad?" Ruby asked, the man nodding before they both stood and slammed into him hard enough to drive him into the wall behind him. They both started shouting questions at him, pressing closer and hugging him tight, and he only managed to squeak out one thing.

"I am very, very confused right now!"

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	16. Chapter 16

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"White! I can't believe you saved my daughter!" The man's arm was around his shoulder, Ruby on his other side with her hood down and smiling warmly, and both leaning against the wall he'd been shoved against only moments ago. "But where did you two even go? How did you even get out of Glenn? No one in Vale has seen either of you, Yang and I checked, and Qrow tore Mountain Glenn apart looking for Ruby."

"That's…. Kinda complicated, Dad." Ruby answered, the older blonde pushing off the wall to give them both a curious look. And a suspicious one as well, Jaune noted with a small smile that he knew neither of them could see while the man looked between them worriedly. "I-It's nothing bad, but… It's complicated."

"Complicated… How, exactly, Ruby?" Tai asked after a second, eyes narrow and arms crossing over his chest. "Because I don't care that you saved my skin, if you did anything to my daughter, White, I'll-"

"No, no, no, no, Dad." Ruby practically shouted across him, getting between them and forming an 'x' with her arms, shaking her head. "Nuh uh. No threatening my friend. He got shot a lot to save me, and almost died again for it, so no threats. A-And we haven't done anything anyways, so… Chill. Please?"

"Then where did you both vanish off to? Because you disappeared in ways that would make a magician decide to either look for a new job or pay you for lessons." He asked again, joy gone from his voice and replaced with laced suspicion barely hidden under sarcastic comedy instead.

Suspicion that made plenty of sense considering that they had literally vanished off the continent itself inside ten minutes, and not come back for weeks and change. So he couldn't bring himself to begrudge him the suspicion too much.

"Dad, don't snark at him, please. He's a good guy, and he didn't, like, abduct me or anything. He couldn't help it, and why that is is so complicated to explain all by itself, and I suck at this, and I… I... Hug, please." She sighed, deflating slightly and closing with her father again.

Without a word, the man wrapped his arms around her and she sighed and relaxed at the contact, content for a few second to just stand before she finally pulled away and the man asked, "Batteries all recharged?"

"Yep." She nodded, smiling warmly up at the man before he reached out and ruffled her hair playfully, making her dodge back to escape the attention. "Hey, no, no ruffling! You know the rules about ruffling! And that's that there will be no ruffling of the hair kind! We agreed on the rules, Dad!"

"And when was that?" He asked teasingly, smiling at her with those sparkling teeth and bright eyes that Jaune recognized from his own dad's face. A face of open affection of a kind only a father held. "Was it before or after you decided to play at being a magician, and disappearing out from in front of a gun line? Don't think I forgot that part already, just because I'm happy."

"Before…" She finally admitted, which prompted the man to simply nod curtly and reached out to ruffle her hair again while she wiggled to escape him. Finally escaping his clutches, and smiling brightly all the while, she frowned, "I'm trying to be serious here, Daddy. We need to talk about… Stuff."

"Stuff?" The old man asked sarcastically, giving Jaune a glance when Ruby shrugged weakly. "You actually gonna tell me where you all ran off to, or keep letting my daughter dodge the question for you, Lorde? And what she meant by 'again' in reference to dying, of all damn things."

"I was just letting you to have a few minutes, after everything that happened, Tai. That's all." He assured the man before pushing off the wall and turning his head to force his neck to pop idly, "And… I want to tell you everything. We decided that on the way here from Atlas, actually-"

"Atlas?" The man demanded in a sound caught between a shout, a gasp, and a surprised squeak that tossed his pitch up a few octaves. "How the fuck did you get to Atlas? Of all places, and sorry for my damn language, Ruby. But… Atlas?"

"Yes, Atlas, and it's-"

"Complicated, yeah, you both keep saying." Tai interrupted, shaking his head and chewing the inside of his cheek absently. "I don't want to keep hearing that, I want you to uncomplicate it enough to explain to me where exactly you disappeared off to with my daughter. And how wherever that was happened to be in friggin' Atlas. Somehow. Even though the damn White Fang said you just up and vanished, and no one in Vale detected any traffic out of Glenn. I know, Ozpin looked."

Ozpin? Ozpin could get information on military installations monitoring areas around Vale? But he couldn't keep track of a couple of supposed Hunters-for-hire, or get someone out to deal with the ones incoming in a timely manner. Someone who couldn't even find out that several people who were ostensibly strangers and, technically for him at least, trespassers were wandering Beacon's halls.

No, he could do that, he just chose not to for some reason Jaune wasn't sure of. And that threw up more red flags than waking up in a strange place to a strange man offering you a drink.

Well, other than when he had done it.

But these were all issues he had to deal with later, when he wasn't in danger of 'death by affectionate dad'. Either of the being beaten to death for kidnapping his daughter variety, or of the being hugged to death for saving her one.

"Look, Tai, please listen to me. I saved you, I saved Ruby, and I almost died to do it. And yes," he held up his armored hand when the man tried to speak, "I almost died again. And I'll explain that, as complicated as it is, but not in the hallway. Where I feel like everything we say and do is being watched."

"But no one is… Doing anything to us." Ruby pointed out quietly, not to argue with him but to try and think along the same paths he was.

"Ozpin has the resources and ability to let Tai know that nothing flew from Mountain Glenn, to look for you, but doesn't send anyone to greet the literal small army delivered to his doorstep? Sounds off to me already. And we just happen to run into Tai, too?" He gave the quiet, attentively listening man a nod and asked, "Why were you coming through this hall, Tai?"

"I… Oz sent a message, asked me to head to the first year dorms and break up some kind of fight or…" He scowled and then growled, spitting and tossing a quick glare at a camera before he could control himself. Then he seemed to school his emotions and smiled widely. "Son of a bitch… Keep smiling, Ruby, these cameras don't have audio but Oz is probably watching us right now."

"Why would he-"

"Because he's a manipulative son of a Grimm." Tai said simply, smiling widely and shrugging. "So here's what we're gonna do, Ruby. We're going to go to a room Oz is letting me use and we're going to talk. And you're both going to explain everything to me, including why 'Lorde' has a 'Hi My Name is Overlord' nametag."

"You're not going to believe what I tell you, Tai." Jaune warned him quietly, the man raising an eyebrow in question at him. "It's… I wouldn't have thought my story was even possible before it happened to me."

"You'd… be surprised the kind of shit I know about, Lorde. Or Overlord, or Biggus Dickus, or whatever the hell your name is." He wagged a finger at him though, smiling slightly, "I want that answered too, though."

"He's telling the truth, Dad." Ruby warned helpfully, grimacing and forcing a strained smile for the camera's sake. "I literally wouldn't have believed it, 'cept I kinda sorta saw it when he saved me."

"Technically, you got the hardest evidence when you saved me, Ruby." Jaune offered weakly, a frail attempt at humor to break the tension he felt in the air now that he'd voiced his suspicions and had them seemingly confirmed.

"Yeah, see guys, I found out about magical girls, a queen bitch of the Grimm, and an old wizard that lives in a tower." Tai stated simply, the Overlord and the young woman exchanging confused glances before the man chuckled and turned to head that way they'd been going before, "Come on, we'll trade impossible stories."

"What about-"

"We'll call Yang after we sort this out." He said simply, in the fatherly 'no argument' sort of tone. Looking over his shoulder he explained simply, "Whatever the hell is goin' on with your friend, Ruby, you're both about to be let in on a big goddamn secret. If Oz is watching you, and actin' the way he is, you need to know. Before he gets you caught up in… Something. And we have to decide what the hell to tell your friends."

"But, Dad…"

"We should trust him, Ruby." Jaune interrupted, moving to following him and laying his armored off hand across the back of her shoulders to nudge her on. "If he knows something… Well, if he's willing to listen to us, we should listen to him. That's only fair."

"Thanks, Overlord. I appreciate the gesture of good faith on your part, since it sounds like some weird shit is goin' down with you." Tai said as the girl started to move on her own, before he somehow managed to teasingly and threatening add, "Also, big guy, if you can kindly do me a favor and take your big, spiky lookin' hand off my daughter's back. Before I go mama bear on you. And until I hear your story, you can call me 'sir'. Yeah?"

"Why a mama bear…?" He half-asked disbelievingly, before he saw the man start to turn to look at him and his Gauntlet dropped from the woman's shoulders and came up in front of him. "J-Just figured you'd, you know, be a papa bear. That's, uh, that's all. Uh, sir?"

"That's better." He noted, chuckling quietly as they walked, "And no, I meant mama bear all right. Been married twice now, in my life, and I know by now that women are friggin' terrifying. Like, all the time."

"Hey, we're not terrifying… We're cute, you're just a jerk, Dad. So mom always had to keep you in line." Ruby teased before she pouted, giving him a sidelong and oddly disappointed look. Like she wanted something from him, but he didn't understand what unless it was to put his Gauntlet back where it had been.

Which, no, he wasn't doing that even if he kind of wanted to. He'd died once, and almost died again, and didn't feel like rolling those dice again just yet if he could help it.

"Yeah, yeah, come on, you two." Tai sighed, waving a hand of his shoulder in a 'follow me' kind of gesture and adding in a tired and almost angry kind of voice that Jaune couldn't quite understand. At least, not in this particular context. "We have shit to get through, and not a lot of time before Oz decides to stick his nose into things and make a damn mess of everything. Like he always does."

Okay, that sounded like a story Jaune kind of wanted to hear. But it could wait, at least until they got to his room and sorted out the probably much more important and central issues of… Magical girls and undead Overlords, apparently.

"Ohhh, what the fuck even is my life anymore…" He whispered, and Ruby hummed and gave him a look. He waved her off, though, sighing and saying, "Nothing, Ruby, just… You know, thinking out loud, that's all. Ignore me."

The friggin' gods already did, judging by the insanity that was his life. But at least Gnarl was being blissfully-

"Everything seems to be going well, Master." The creature whispered in his ear through the magic of his Gauntlet.

He could have cried, right then and there.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I don't understand, Headmaster." Glynda said, standing at the window and looking out towards the end of the boulevard where the hired Hunters were still waiting. "Why am I not organizing them? You said we needed them, but-"

"You may go to them now, if you wish to, Miss Goodwitch." Ozpin interrupted quietly, smiling at her politely. "I was simply waiting for… A certain pair of them to wander off into the dorms, that is all. Actually," he smiled as a thought occurred, "I would like it if you got team RWBY together for me."

"Under… What reasoning, exactly, headmaster?" She asked carefully, prim brow rising elegantly in question.

"Whatever reasoning you like, I just need them together. And my, there are quite a few crates of supplies that need carrying up the boulevard. Perhaps a few strong hands, like Miss Xiao Long for instance, would help in moving them where they need to go?" He smiled, and the woman simply stared at him questioningly and demandingly for an answer. "Oh, very well. It would appear Miss Rose has returned to us, with a tall, dark and armored stranger in tow."

"That's wonderful news, Ozpin! Truly something worth celebration." She smiled widely, her facade breaking as she moved towards the desk. Waving a hand at the window she added, "Away with the crates, we should send word to the team, tell them their friend is back alive and safe."

"With a stranger, Glynda. That is the thing of note here, as miraculous as her return is." He pointed out, eyes as flat as his voice. "One that echoes of old magic. Magic of a kind I haven't encountered directly outside of ruins in the last thousand years or more. A kind of magic older than myself, if only just."

"Oh…" She blinked, leaning back as his words sank in. "Oh my, Ozpin, that's… What kind of magic is it, then? Is it the same kind as hers, or more similar to your own?"

"No, no, it's… A bit hard to explain, really. I have a few very, very old books on the matter I will make available to you in the Vault below Beacon. Feel free to read them at your leisure." He explained, waving off her worries with a hand and a simple and small smile to make her relax. "For now, I sent Tai Yang their way. Knowing him, he'll realize why I asked him there and blame me for 'manipulating' him. So he'll tell them about me and the Maidens."

"Why is that helpful?" Glynda asked, fishing her Scroll out and preparing a message to get the students out to the landing area to 'help' her. "I had thought this matter a secret one, or one that you preferred to let people in on at your own time."

"Sometimes, when you want to get someone of power to ally with you, it pays to have them come to you knowing who you are." He explained almost coyly, "Letting them come out to meet me, knowing everything they need, grants them a position on equal ground. And so they may be more willing to work together."

"You want an ally, someone equal to you, rather than more people like Qrow and myself who follow your directives." She observed, the ancient being humming and nodding his head curtly at the question. "Very well. I shall see to keeping the children busy, and hope that your plan holds true."

"Your faith in me is a blessing and a boon, Glynda." He said in thanks, reaching for his mug of warm coffee with a smile.

Hopefully it wouldn't turn out to be misplaced, at least this time, as so many other times had. Not that she would call it that, he knew.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Okay, your story is at least as crazy as ours is going to be." Ruby finally sighed, sitting on her father's bed with her legs crossed and her arms folded. "So, I just… Seriously? Magical powers inherited by someone thinking about you kind of hard when they die? That's… Such a bad idea."

"Yeah, I have to agree with you, but…" Tai sighed, leaning against the dresser on the far end of the otherwise almost empty room. Aside from a trashcan and dirty clothes basket, the dorm room was surprisingly empty. "Oz always at least says he knows what he's doing, but… I don't know, I guess he makes mistakes too."

"A man is a man, whether you're thirty or a thousand years old. Bad ideas happen, and hindsight is always twenty-twenty." Jaune offered helpfully, the other blonde shrugging and nodding. "But I guess that means you have a precedent to work with with people, you know… Having magic powers and coming back from the dead."

"Oh boy, this is gonna be another one of those, isn't it? God damn it, what even is my life… Frickin' Ozpin." The man ground out, pinching the bridge of his nose while Jaune tried not to snort at the man's literally quoting him, before taking a deep breath and then nodding and looking at the armored man. "Okay, good to go now, let's talk crazy magical bullshit since this family seems to just be knee deep in it."

"What does that mean?" Ruby asked curiously, Tai grimacing and staring a hole in the floor before Ruby prompted him, "Dad?"

"All I know is it has to do with silver eyed people, and them being able to hurt Grimm really easily. Your uncle knows more, so…" He shrugged, smiling thinly and trying to tease her. "Put a little pin in it, and when he shows up to bend you over his knee for running around a Grimm filled ruin without your damn weapon."

"Are we still on that?" She whined, hiding her face in her hands.

"Yep. And will be for a while, little Miss Huntress." He teased, the girl whining weakly and quietly at the tiny jab. Then he looked to Jaune and finally asked him, "So, how about we start with your name, big ol' mysterious guy?"

"Do you… Remember my friend who died a few months back? The one who, you know, got thrown off a cliff by a Deathstalker back in Initiation?" Ruby asked her father quietly after a glance to him to ask if it was okay and his answering nod.

"Yeah, Jaune Arc. You were torn up for weeks about it, and-" His eyes suddenly widened and snapped to the dark armored man, his mouth hanging open in a surprised 'o' of realization. Then he blinked twice, coughed, and shook his head slightly in a resigned sort of way, "Okay, so that answers a couple things, I guess. Good to actually meet you officially, I guess, Jaune. I'd ask how you survived the fall, but… I guess that's when you, uh, died the first time? Have there been a few times?"

"No." He answered simply, reaching up and finally pulling his helmet from his head, feeling the cool air-conditioned air wash over his face and sighing contentedly. Easing himself to the floor with his Gauntlet, he sat the helmet beside him and smiled almost giddily, enough that both the others in the room noticed it at least. "Sorry, I just… You have no idea how nice it is to be able to take that off around people that aren't Gnarl or Ruby."

"Gnarl?"

"A, uh, friend of ours, I guess." Ruby said quickly, making an apologetic face at her father and adding, "We'll, uh, get to him in just a second actually, because after Jaune died is when he met Gnarl. Right? And gods, talking about you dying like this is… Frickin' weird."

"I know it is, Ruby, you… You get used to it, kind of, eventually." Not really, actually, but he didn't need to stress her out over what was essentially nothing. Especially since there was literally nothing anyone could even try to do to fix the issues she'd be stressing over.

"Anyways, after my… Accident, back at Initiation, I did die. And instead of staying that way, I woke up in a strange bed, with this," he raised his Gauntlet to show it to the man and then let it drop and continued, "on my arm. It keeps me alive, and lets me use magic. Or, kind of, I'm still learning that part. But that's where I met Gnarl, who is a thing called a 'Minion'. Like a… little goblin looking thing, and my Gauntlet lets me control them."

"Well that's rude… And I thought we were getting along so well, Master."

"Shut up, Gnarl, before I throw you off the Tower." He growled at the gem in his Gauntlet, sighing when Tai's brow rose questioningly. "The Gauntlet lets me communicated with Gnarl back at the Tower up in Mantel, where I live and, convenient segue is convenient, where Ruby and I have been while I healed from getting shot."

"Okay, so that's where you've been." He said with a nod, "How did you get from Mountain Glenn all the way to Mantel, though?"

"Master, I feel the need to point out, and be ignored probably, that telling everyone about your magic might be a bad idea." He rolled his eyes and smacked his Gauntlet against the wall behind him, and heard the creature groan across the connection. "Oh, do as you will, Master. Evil knows you won't listen to me. Seeing what kind of mess this will end up tossing us into ought to at least be entertaining."

"There are these stones all around Remnant that are connected and let me teleport long distances, or to the closest one of them with my axe if I need to." Jaune answered, gesturing at the large weapon sitting by the door with a nod. "That's not all it does, of course. It lets me use fire based magic as well, and, you know… When I hit things with it they die. But what happened was I teleported to cover Ruby-"

"Got shot a lot, because the idiot doesn't have Aura now, thanks to the damn glove." Her dad scowled and she blanched, "I-I mean, the darn glove?"

"Better." Tai nodded, looking back to Jaune and asking, "So the Gauntlet blocks Aura for some reason, got that much. Is it important enough to get into?"

The young Overlord shrugged and shook his head, so Tai continued, "Alright, alright, so… Let me get this straight. You died, a little goblin thing called a Minion brought you back, and now you have magic powers, a dark tower off in Atlas somewhere, and an army. And you saved me and my daughter's lives, without Aura no less."

"Accurate way to explain it, I guess, yeah." He agreed with a small and curt nod.

"Why help us, then?" The blonde man asked, holding up a hand when Ruby seemed like she was going to say something to defend the Overlord. "I want to hear him explain it, Ruby. Whatever comes next, I'm getting to know him before I tell Qrow and your sister all this nonsense."

"But he shouldn't have to-"

"It's fine, Ruby, I don't mind. This is a lot for him to take in, after all, and he's got to help us explain this to… Whoever all else we have to explain this to." The young woman pouted and deflated somewhat, crossing her arms and mumbling something he couldn't make out, but she didn't argue. So Jaune looked at the blonde man across from him, shrugged, and simply said, "Ruby is my friend, the only one I had at Beacon when I died, and she was in danger. I had to save her. And saving you wasn't much trouble, so… I didn't think about it, I guess. It was the right thing to do, so… I did it."

"Good for goodness' sake, eh?" He nodded, and Tai groaned, "Of course you are, because you couldn't possibly be some kind of dick. No, that would make all this crap easy on me." Pushing off the wall, he gave them a wave and headed towards the door, "I'm going to call your sister, tell her all this, so… Expect Yang hugs, I guess."

"Noooo…" Ruby whined, flopping onto the bed and kicking her feet weakly. "Yang always hugs sooo tight, and it hurts, and then she'll start trying to get after Jaune, and then fuss about my clothes..."

"Be grateful I'm explaining all this to her for you, then." He pointed out, a hand on the knob before he gave Jaune a look and pointed at the young woman. "Those are some nice pants she's wearing. See she stays wearing them while I'm gone, alright?"

"Oh my god, Dad!" Ruby shrieked, hurling a pillow at him and flushing madly. She pointed at the door, pouting cutely, and squeaked, "Out. Go do the Yang thing. Go. Do the thing. Now."

"Are you kicking me out of my room?" He asked teasingly, before a shoe thumped against his chest and he rolled his eyes, pulling the door open and hesitating a moment before smiling. "I'm glad you're safe, though, Ruby. Even if things are just more complicated than ever, now, it's good to have you back safe and sound. See you in a bit, love you."

"Love you too." She waved with a small smile, and then he was gone, and she flopped back onto the bed and whined petulantly, "Oh my Dust, I hate him…"

Jaune just chuckled and relaxed where he sat, eyes closing so he could rest a bit and wait for Tai to come back with the others. Which shouldn't be too long, really, he just hoped Yang didn't hear 'Ruby is back' and rush off to find her without listening.

When Tai returned an hour later, with the others in tow he realized as a blonde woman surged into the room like an animal searching for its first meal in weeks and smelling blood in the air. Ruby saw her expression, and squeaked as she shot up and leapt into the air towards whatever rescue she thought the black haired woman would offer with a scream of 'Blake, help me, I don't want this!'

The blonde missile that launched from the floor intercepted her in mid-leap, tackling her away from the confused looking black-haired woman and the white-haired one next to her. While Yang and Ruby grappled, the former crushing the woman against her chest and pressing kisses along any inch of her she could get while the latter desperately clawed for freedom, the group collectively shrugged and started tiredly looking for places to sit while the sun began to set and cast the room in warm orange light through the windows.

When Ruby finally surrendered and let Yang curl her into a ball and hold her in her lap like a small child, arms crossed and pouting all the while, it was Weiss who spoke first and to Jaune, "So, Jaune. I feel I should offer condolences or… Something, but dying seems to have done wonders for you."

"I wouldn't recommend it. The strings attached are a bit too many for me to recommend." He answered with a quiet chuckle, raising his Gauntlet and curling it into a fist with a small smile, "Having an army and magic powers is kind of fun, though. And a great way to skip a few steps into getting strong."

"In all seriousness, thank you, Arc." She said, gesturing at the other two in their group with a hand before folding hers in her lap and sitting up straighter on the floor. Prim and proper, as always. "You brought our leader back to us, nearly at the cost of your life. That's… Remarkable."

"And you saved my sister's life, even if it sounds like you're putting some moves on her." Ruby bapped her chest gently and the blonde woman chuckled, ignoring the weak strikes almost entirely. "So, you know, thanks for that, Lover Boy. I owe you one, though if you try and do anything to my sister I might have to break something."

"Regardless of my team mate's vague and needless threats," Weiss interrupted, "we all are informed on this… Insanity. Now, what do you need us to do to move forward?"

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking around at them curiously, Tai crossing his arms and leaning against the door with a small smile. "Tai, what's going on? What are they talking about? I didn't come here recruiting, I just wanted to bring Ruby home."

"Hey now, tryin' to get my sister home already?" Yang teased, ignoring another bap from her pouting sister aside from a roll of her eyes and a small chuckle, "You saved my sister, and my dad's daughter, Spike. We need to know what you're plannin' next, because we're in, as long as you let us be."

"Not that that means we're dropping out for you, Jaune." Weiss pointed out, Blake nodding curtly to show her own agreement. Even if the dark haired woman looked absolutely out of her element and flustered, "Whatever you have going on in Vale, we'll help you with, if you'll have us. And given that you can apparently teleport, scheduling that should be fine."

"I'm in, too." Tai added, raising a hand and waving it gently, letting it drop and thump against the door a second later. "Qrow too, probably, once he finds out about all this. So let us know what you got goin', Jaune."

"A few Hunters… Could be useful, Master." Gnarl pointed out eagerly, "I say make use of them to connect the Portal-Shrine you're seeking in the caves. You have an army, after all. May as well make use of it."

Smiling, he started to explain what he was planning next, though… He did decide not to detail too much that he was fairly certain that meant fighting some giant Grimm spiders.

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	17. Chapter 17

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"I still think we should go and speak to Miss Goodwitch or Headmaster Ozpin about this." Weiss argued for the tenth time since Ruby had crawled up onto her bed and changed into the pajamas she'd missed so much since she'd gone to Atlas. Weiss, standing at the head of the bed with her arms cross and an eyebrow raised, asked again, "Why don't we go and talk to them, again?"

"Because Jaune asked us not to, Weisscream." Yang argued tiredly, eyes closed and a pleasant smile on her face while she reclined languidly on her bunk. "And since he came back to life, and saved my sister's life too, I think we owe him the tiny favor of not ratting him out until he can get back home if the crap hits the fan."

"Assuming he's telling the truth about that, of course." Blake pointed out, Ruby turning a glare on her and opening her mouth to speak. Raising her hands in mock surrender, Blake explained quickly, "I know you've seen proof, Ruby. But please, Ruby, you have to understand, we haven't seen anything you have. And he had you, on his own, wherever you were for weeks."

"A lot of that time was spent with him in bed, recovering from bullet wounds, Blake." Ruby argued quietly and hotly, pouting weakly at the other girl. "You know, from when he leapt into a firing line to save me?"

"Someone's turning snarky…" Yang chided gently, cracking a lavender eye to shoot her younger sister a glance. Ruby grimaced and murmured an apology, and Yang continued, "And Blake, Weiss, you guys are being a little unfair about this. Of course Ruby trusts Jaune, she's seen the proof of all this, just like you said. And we all saw Jaune fall to his death, too, and Beacon had rescue staff combing the woods for him after Initiation, too. Just in case he survived the fall somehow and was stumbling around out there."

"I just think that Headmaster Ozpin and Headmistress Goodwitch should know about this, that's all." Weiss explained with a sigh, shrugging her thin shoulders and taking a seat on her bed. Crossing her legs and smoothing out her checkered skirt, she went on, "I do agree that we should help him with his… Portal thing, and give him the chance to actually prove what he says to all of us. I simply think that the Headmistress and Headmaster should know as well."

"What if one of us gets hurt, or the Grimm overwhelm us?" Blake added, leaning against the desk by the door and looking worried. And uncomfortable with something else as well, though Ruby had no idea what that could be. "I agree with Weiss, we… We should make sure the teachers know where we are, at least. For safety."

"Psh, safety?"Yang snorted, "My dad'll be there, and he's a certified Huntsman himself. Plus, he has Goodwitch's number in his Scroll, so he can call for help if we need any of it. Not like we will, 'course, but if it'll calm you ladies down… Then yeah, we can call for help if we need it."

"Not that we will." Ruby added quietly, rolling her eyes when Blake gave her a look. "Between Jaune and my dad, we probably won't need much help. You haven't seen what Jaune can do, not like I have."

"I suppose at any rate you won't change your mind, will you, Ruby?" Weiss asked in that same aggravated, prissy tone she sometimes took with someone who aggravated her in whatever way. Ruby shook her head and the Schnee sighed, "So I suppose we don't have much option or say in the matter. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now, since you insisted on it earlier regardless, and… See what comes."

"He did save Ruby, so…" Blake sighed, running a hand through her dark tresses absently. "So, I guess he deserves some trust... But I don't like this. Something about him makes my skin crawl just being near him."

"It's the gauntlet." Ruby informed her, shrugging her own small shoulders. "The, uh, the magic in it makes people nervous when it's near, sometimes. That's what Gnarl told me when I mentioned it, at least. You get used to it, though, eventually. But, uh, if it touches you it is worse, makes me feel really weird at least, so… Watch out for that, I guess."

"What kind of touching?" Yang asked, tone edging towards danger and eyes tinting from bright lavender to a more purple color, a blend of red and lavender Yang could take on when her emotions spiked. "Please, Ruby, tell your loving and gentle older sister, Yang, all about the kinds of touching that Jaune does that makes you feel 'weird'?"

"N-Nothing, um, you know, bad… Um, just…" Her face suddenly strained as she forced a stiff and awkward smile at Yang, pulling her pillow in front of most her small frame and half-hiding behind it nervously. Averting her eyes embarrassedly she added, "J-Just, um, hugs a couple times and… And stuff like that?"

"Okay, I was teasing, but are you dating him? Really? Zombie-Boy?" Yang sat up suddenly, and even Weiss' brow rose curiously. Blake was better at concealing it, but Ruby saw her blink and glance at her curiously before she fished out a book Ruby knew she'd finished and sat in the chair by the desk. Yang clapped her hands excitedly, "Come on, come on, come on, Rubes! Juicy details, give 'em!"

"B-But…"

"Or I'll assume he put his hands up your skirt." Yang threatened, cracking her knuckles to sail the threat home.

"F-Fine! I'll talk, I'll talk!" She squawked, waving her arms in front of herself anxiously, before swallowing and adding, "B-But we have to stay quiet, no one knows I'm here yet. And I don't want to-"

"Hello, Yang and company, we're here for a surprise slumber party!" Nora crowed, throwing open their door hard enough to bang and scaring Blake so much she leapt into her bunk and… Ruby could swear she heard her hiss, but was too distracted when her eyes met Nora's and her head tilted, "Ruby?"

"Get caught…" Ruby finished with a weak sigh, Nora taking a single step towards the door before the Rose pointed at her and barked an order, "Get her, before she can report to the rest of the enemy!"

"No!" Nora turned, tried to bolt, only to receive a blonde shaped missile to the back of her legs and tumble into the hallway with a dull thud, crying out, "Ren, help! I'm being Yanged again, and there's a ghost, and heeeeelp!"

"We're just gonna have…" Yang wrapped her legs around Nora's waist, grunting and trying to wrestle the ginger, and forcing out, "Some. Girl. Talk. Come on, Nora, give up. Say uncle, whatever, just… Give. Up."

"Reeen! Help! I don't want girl talk with angry Uncle Yang!" Nora giggled, struggling with the blonde and rolling into the bedroom in a ball of pale skin, toned muscle and grappling girls. "Heeeeelp, Renny! She's trying to- Are you biting me? You are! Well that means I have to bite back!"

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"They mistrust you greatly, Master." Gnarl advised him, the blonde leaning against the wall and nibbling on part of ne of the two pizzas Tai had ordered idly. "I can sympathise with that, at least. I don't trust a single one of those wenches either, aside from the young, red Mistress. She, at least, holds affection for you more directly than simply because you played the hero for a spell, Lordship."

"I trust them enough." He argued simply, taking another bite of his pizza and tossing it on the plate to set beside him on the floor. "They'll give me a chance to prove my claims, at least. Ruby won't let them not give me a fair chance, knowing her. And I won't have you questioning or insulting her, Gnarl."

"Yes, yes, she's quite the sweet little thing, isn't she? Well, as long one doesn't even hint at getting between her and whatever… Sugary confection she sees on the horizon, the insane little creature that she is whenever that happens." Jaune smiled at that, remembering how Gnarl had cowered at the sight of Ruby and her all might and to be feared wooden spoon. "So long as you believe she will keep the faith, so to speak, and make the others fall in line as well… I suppose they can be useful."

"She will, Gnarl, trust me." He sighed, shaking his head and adding, "And besides, not like you have a real choice in the matter. I'm in charge here, not you, and I say we're trusting them. Clear?"

"As crystal, Master, as crystal." Gnarl assured him, "I promise you, I meant no insults or anything else. I am simply advising you, as is my duty, your Evilness. As ever, I live to serve, and naught else, Master."

"Good, don't forget that." He muttered, only half paying attention at that point as the door cracked open and Tai stepped in, smiling when he saw the armored young man looking at him and waving. Jaune returned the gesture, adding a, "Hey, Tai."

"Hey, uh, Jaune." He closed the door behind him, standing awkwardly for a second before licking his lips and moving to the bed to sit, nodding his head. "So, uh, I wanted to thank you again. For saving me and my daughter both, I mean. You… Don't have Aura, right?"

"No, Mana from the Tower Heart won't let me have it." Which was annoying, and felt like a bit of a shitty thing for the Heart to do to him, but that's where he was. "Lived my whole life without Aura, and then it didn't, you know, help me not die. So… I'm not too stressed out about not having it. Why?"

"Because that means you lept in to save both of us without even an Aura to help you out, not somethin' most people would actually do." He explained simply, folding his muscled arms over his chest and nodding at him. "You could have gotten hurt really badly when you helped me out, if those Grimm had come after you or if there'd been more. And when you saved Ruby, you did get hurt really badly. And killed, what, five people? Six?"

"Are you going to tell me I shouldn't have done any of that, because I don't have an Aura protecting me?" Because that wouldn't do anything except start an argument, he knew.

"No, I was gonna say you're a bit of a badass to toss yourself in the way you did knowin' they could rip you apart soon as they got a hold of you. Takes some balls to do that, and even if I do kind of think it's silly, you saved both our lives." He said instead, surprising the young Overlord and earning a grieving sigh from the Minion. Tai continued before he could do more than rap a knuckle on the gem absently, "So… Thank you for saving me and my daughter."

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat." Jaune smiled, nodding his head at the man.

"I just… Have a few questions about you and, uh, my daughter." Jaune swallowed anxiously, the man leg bouncing on the floor while he spoke and Jaune's metal fingers started drumming on the wooden floor. "Are you trying to date my daughter, or-"

"Jauney~!" They both jumped as the door flew open and a ginger-shaped missile shot through the air towards the bed, slamming into a surprised Tai Yang who 'eeped' in surprise. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, then pulled back and pouted, "Wait, you're not Jauney, are you? I didn't, you know, see you for long but I remember you being scrawnier than this."

"That is Jaune, Nora." Ruby sighed, standing at the door and pointing at him with a finger, looking exhausted in a way Jaune was already starting to understand when she leapt for him and tackled him to the ground, snuggling against him. "She came in and saw me, so we explained everything to her too…"

"I don't like keeping secrets from Renny, Jauney." Nora started, releasing him and standing, smoothing out her pajamas as she did. Smiling down at him, she gave him a nod, "But you died fighting with us, so… I'll do the favor, for now at least. But no more skydiving, okay? Not without a parachute."

"I…" He gave Ruby a look and she shrugged, so he looked back at her and promised, "I won't, uh, let a giant scorpion toss me off a cliff again if I can help it? Promise, uh, N-Nora, right?"

"Yep." She smiled, looking him up and down a couple times and adding, "They put you on our team, you know… Team Juniper. Even though you, um, faked your way in and died, Headmaster Ozpin said you were brave and died fighting and deserved that much. So… Don't be a stranger, teammate."

"I won't…" He promised, watching her leave before Ruby asked.

"So… Yang is being weird, what were you guys doin'?" She asked quietly, smiling hopefully and looking between the two blondes.

"I was asking Jaune here if you two were dating or anything like that, since he saved you. So romantic, too, figured I might be a grandfather soon at this rate." She blanched and turned, disappearing from the room in a flash of rose petals and leaving behind a laughing Tai Yang and a flushing Jaune. "Knew that'd work… Now where were we?"

"Oh yeah," Tai smiled threateningly, "Me being a grandfather really, really soon is where I was at. Won't be too long a chat, I promise, and then we can get some sleep before we go spelunking tomorrow."

"I will send some Greens through the other Portal-Stone to protect you, Master…" Gnarl whispered, voice low even though both knew that Tai couldn't hear words being sent through the Gauntlet's gem. "From those disgusting and annoying Grimm and… Other concerns."

"Just you, me, and a nice, dark cave no one knows about…" Suddenly, as the older and larger blonde cracked his knuckles, Jaune was afraid of something that didn't have anything to do with undergrounds Grimm spiders and caves.

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"When I get close to the right way to get to it, I kind of… I sense it, I guess is how I would put it." He explained when morning had come and they had all gathered, raising his Gauntlet to show them the gem in it as he explained. "Kind of a connection with it, I think, but Gnarl isn't sure. So we head out into the forest around Beacon, and walk along the bottom of the cliffs, and… I should sense when we get to the right one."

"That sounds reliable…"

"Weiss, come on, don't be mean." Ruby chided weakly, holding her scythe in rifle form gingerly, tucked against her chest like it was the most precious thing in the world to her next to her combat clothes that she'd squealed over when her sister had brought them. "It's just, you know… Magic. Magic is really weird, b-but it works. You'll see it soon enough for yourself."

"I'm sure." Weiss rolled her eyes, walking with them down the boulevard with her rapier on her hip and a hand wrapped tight around the handle irritably. "I still find it impossible to believe that any of you thought the best way to get out of Beacon for this little… Escapade was to just walk straight out along the blasted boulevard where everyone can see us, plain as day."

"Best way to sneak into a bar, act like you belong and everyone will assume you do." Tai coughed awkwardly and Yang stumbled, blushed, and then shrugged and smiled cockily. "Hey, Dad, you know what I'm about. Caught me sneakin' into and out of the house enough times. No point lyin' now, and my point stands pretty much the same either way."

"It'll be fine, Weiss." Jaune said simply, smiling under his metal mask before he realized she couldn't see it and turned to look forward again awkwardly. Or awkwardly for him, at least, since everyone else seemed fine enough. "I know what I'm doing, Weiss. Been doin' it for a while, now. Trust me."

"All due respect, Overlord, but last time any of us trusted you except for Ruby, you died." Weiss pointed out, making him sigh and shrug. She had him there, at the very least if nothing else. "So when I start trusting everything you say, I'll give you a lady's first kiss, for all the likelihood of it. And what kind of name is that, even?"

"One that isn't to be taken lightly, a Schnee should understand that." He growled, Gauntlet curling into a fist as he turned a glare on her. She blinked in surprise at the sharp rebuke, and he took a breath, forcing himself to relax and joking nervously to defuse the sudden tensions, "And you shouldn't make promises lightly, Weiss. An Arc never goes back on his word. And the Overlord makes everyone else keep theirs. Kind of a rough combination, now I think about it."

"Behave, Jau- Overlord. Don't make me spoon you again, because I totally will." Ruby thumped his wolf-shoulder heavily, pulling her mask down for a second and smiling at Weiss on his other side reassuringly, while the two RWBY members behind them tried to keep the older of the blondes upright, breathing and away from Jaune. She pulled the black mask back up and adjusted her hood, as good a disguise as it was with her dressed in her old outfit again. "Don't worry, he's harmless, he just likes to act all rough and tough because Gnarl says he should. Part of the job apparently."

"And what is the job, exactly?" Blake asked suddenly, leaning forward on Weiss' other side to get into the conversation. "And I don't mean our job, right now, either. I mean your job. What does an 'Overlord' even do?"

"Leading the Minions, building up the Dark Tower, and…" He trailed off, waving his Gauntlet in front of him dismissively, "And what ever I decide what I do next, after that's all done and dealt with, I guess. Overlords have a bit of variety to them, from what Gnarl has told me. I could be a really strong Huntsman, if I wanted," he brought the bottom of his axe down on the stone hard, for emphasis, and added, "or I could try and conquer the world, if I wanted."

"And if Ruby would let me." He added with a chuckle when Ruby thumped his shoulder again, hard enough this time for her to wince and shake her stinging hand and murmuring 'ouch'. "Hey, Ruby, don't do that, I think it hurts a little bit. Just a guess, though."

Behind him, Tai snorted and Yang groaned, "Really? You're making dad jokes? I mean, I make puns all day long when I want to, but… Dad jokes? That's low on the totem pole, buddy, come on."

"I thought it was funny…" Tai said quietly, and Yang rolled her eyes and gestured at the man as though that proved her point. "Hey, I seem to remember that you loved my dad jokes when you were growing up. What happened to my adorable daughter, bouncing on my knee and laughing at her dad's jokes instead of her dad?"

"I'd say she grew up, but…" Weiss smiled teasingly at Yang, raising an eyebrow as lavender eyes met pale blue. "But that would entail that she grew up at all."

"'Least I look like a grown woman, instead of a twelve year old with mosquito bites for a chest, Half-Stacked." Weiss huffed and glared at her as they walked and Yang stuck her tongue out mockingly. The Schnee huffed and crossed her arms, coincidentally under her small bust and pushing them up, and Yang snorted. "Anyway, Big O, what say we get to getting, huh? I want out of here before someone spots us and says something."

"Literally everyone saw Ruby already, though…" Blake offered quietly, and sure enough he could see those up and moving at this early hour looking towards them as they walked and talking. "I knew you dressing like you always did would attract attention, Ruby. I told you it was a bad idea. There won't be any hiding you after this… I hope you both realize this."

"Ruby is free to return to Beacon if she likes, and she always was free to. I was never holding her prisoner, it was just… Getting here was hard, and had a lot of risks for me and mine, and Ruby didn't..." Jaune pointed trailed off unsurely, though when the young woman stepped closer to him and laid a hand on his more heavily armed left arm, he sighed, "I would have brought her sooner, but I had to keep my own safety in mind. And people I care about, too."

"The only secret is going to be him, for a little while at least." Ruby added quietly, "Or, um, that's the plan anyway. Never know if that's what'll happen, though. So… I mean, I didn't exactly plan on getting captured by the White Fang and, you know, stuff."

"Let's just get this over with." Tai cut in jovially when the conversation died and everyone felt the tension rising in the air again, and a sour mood with it. He pushed between his youngest daughter and the armored blonde, throwing an arm around him and smiling widely, and added, "We've got a job to do, after all, before anything happens so… Don't stress over crossing the bridge until you reach it."

A sentiment no one seemed to oppose too terribly much, and conversation turned to fighting Grimm and the forests around Beacon from there as they made their way.

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The cave entrance was large, almost a dozen feet wide and ten tall, and led back into a large cavern twice that in height and a hundred feet long from the entrance almost immediately. Inside, the walls were rough hewn rock with next to no real soil, and a massive pool of crystal clear and chilly water reflected what little light filtered in through leaves and roots in a hundred small spots of a thousand refracted colors on the roof and wall. Not enough to light the area up, but beautiful all the same.

Outside, almost hiding the cave entirely from view save for a gap large enough for a single man to fit through at a time, one of many massive trees around the cliff edge had sprouted above the cave entrance itself, its roots crawling over the entrance and dotted by loose rocks it had torn free almost sealing the entrance completely behind what looked to be a normal tree. And trees just like it sprouted all along the edge of Beacon's plateau apparently, larger, thicker, stronger and clustered tighter than the rest of the woods around it.

If not for his Gauntlet guiding him, he would have never even known there was a cave like this here.

"Spread the torches out properly." He instructed the six Green Minions, the small creatures clad in thin furs and carrying unlit torches, clambering up the walls around the cavern to plant the torches for him to light. He pointed a clawed finger at two of them, "You two, leave the torches for the other and trim that entryway a bit in case we have to run, and [ut in some vents for the torchsmoke. And… Stop playing with them, Ruby, please."

"But they're cute! And they missed me, see?" She whined, sitting on the edge of the pool and scratching one of the Greens' backs while it lounged next to her and the other pitched rocks into the pool and laughed at the splash and Yang sat next to her and watched curiously. "Pleeeeease, Jaune?"

"Ruby…"

"Fine, fine." She sighed, pouting slightly and giving the Green a scritch behind its ear before waving them off, "Go on, you two, do what the man says. We can play later, okay?"

"Yes, Mistress!" They crowed brightly and happily, leaping up and heading for the entrance with small, iron knives in their hands to cut at the roots.

"Mistress?" Yang asked curiously, nudging Ruby's arm with her own. "What's that about?"

"It's a title, kind of, I think." Jaune explained with a quiet chuckle for the suddenly flustered Ruby when she looked at him, mouth gaping like a fish out of water. "Not sure what all it actually means, but Gnarl gave it to her when she was staying with me."

"Master, you know very well it means she's the woman you take to your bed and ravage like you would-"

"A-Anyway, don't worry about it, Yang. Just a, uh, a ceremonial kind of title, I guess. Gnarl hasn't said anything to me, so… Yeah." He said simply, moving off to start lighting the torches without another word. Raising his Gauntlet he growled into the gem, "Gnarl, you frickin' jerk, there's no reason to try and get me flustered like that!"

Lighting the torches didn't take long and soon the cave was filled with warm light cast by the torches' fires, reflected off the cool water and casting the entire cavern into orange light while the others milled about and enjoyed the sight. And now that they could see properly, he could discern the mouth of another cave at the back of the cavern itself, only three feet wide and five tall and dark as it descended down at a sharp and steady angle into the earth deep below Beacon.

"More torches, Greens, make some from the wood outside if you have to." He ordered, moving to the entrance with Tai at his back and the others scattered loosely behind him. "Looks like it goes down, but can't see where… And it doesn't seem to widen either."

"My scythe won't be able to swing down there, Jaune." Ruby warned, raising it in rifle form and grimacing. "And if I fire a round down there… Well, I prefer hearing things, so I don't think going down there is a good idea for me."

"Or me." Yang added, raising her first and flashing the gauntlets at him and then shrugging, "I can punch whatever into pieces, but most of my fighting needs me to be able to fire Ember Celica to do it right. It's all my mobility, and my style is tailored around it against Grimm."

"I told you that would be a problem, and I love saying I told you so." Tai pointed out, chuckling when Yang groaned like she'd heard it a million times before. Ignoring her, the blonde man went on, "Ruby and Yang should stay up here, you, me and the other two can head underground and find what you're looking for."

"That's too many to fight properly in something so narrow." Blake pointed out, suddenly and surprisingly beside him, leaning on the rock at the corner of the cave. "Weiss' glyphs won't be much use unless she has one that provides light-"

"I don't have one." She offered with a shrug, smiling politely when Blake glared at her with… Oddly bright eyes, now that he looked. "Sorry, Blake, I just wanted to head off that problem before it could become one."

"I suggest us four stay up here, in case Grimm show up for whatever reason or you need to retreat from… Whatever you find." Blake continued, waving a hand at him and Tai, "You two should be fine down there, one of you is a professional Huntsman at least. And you have your… Goblins, or whatever."

"Minions, and…" He trailed off when he heard something down the tunnel echo along with the sound of scattering and banging rocks, turning to look down it as his Minions returned with freshly made torches and something irked him. "Something is off here… It doesn't feel right."

His hairs stood on end and his gut sank, the Gauntlet growing heavy and… Pulling him back towards the entrance of the cavern. Taking a step back and sliding his hand down to the grip of his axe, he angled the head towards the entrance and stepped away, holding the torch to the edge of his axe and use a spark of Mana-Fire to light the torch and holding it high to cast the light down the tunnel. Something glinted and he saw it move, massive and multi-legged, and rushing up the tunnel towards them.

"Back! Grimm coming in!" He barked, and the others scattered in a wide half-circle around the entrance with him in the center and Tai beside him and the Minions scattered in their own circle inside theirs with claws spread and teeth bared threateningly.

The creatures that emerged wasted no time in shooting towards him, two massive black spiders covered in red stripes fighting for space to each get at him. The lead one caught him first, and his axe skated off its thick carapace uselessly when it slammed its massive head into his chest and threw him through the air. He splashed down far back and to the side, on the other side of the pool completely and submerged up to his chest in the almost frigid water with his axe laying beside him.

"Jaune, it's on the roof!" Ruby warned, and he managed to get a grip on the axe as it leapt down at him, fire streaking out in a gout of flame across the roof towards it.

Apparently they were covered in fur or hair, because it caught all along its side and the creature hissed, slamming into him and flailing in the water. Twice its body crushed down against his chest, driving him into the water and stone hard enough to force the air out of his body, before he managed to crawl away and forced himself to stand and turn to the spider in time to see it shove its body under the water and roll in it to fight the flames.

Before it could calm down he leapt, landing on its bag and using his claw like a knife once again, bringing his hand down and punching through the armor with a wet crunching sound and it shrieked in pain. Rising and bucking like a wild horse, it tried to throw him, but he used it's hard carapace as a handhold and stayed on while Mana pooled in his armored Gauntlet. Finally, with a dull and wet crack, he let the Mana-Burst fire and shear the Grimm in half, riding one of the pieces through the air and rolling as he hit the ground.

Without thinking he rose and turned, raising his axe and spewing fire across the back of the second's back while it mauled one of his Greens. Its body caught and it writhed and hissed, screeching in pain loud enough to make his ears ache, and rounded on him as he approached it and drove it back into the wall, hacking on the acrid smoke the burning hair and carapace let off as he went. Its legs skittered on the wall for purchase and it climbed, desperate to get away, before finally falling and curling into a dead little ball on the floor and mercifully going silent aside from the crackling fire on its body.

"More coming!" Yang warned with a shout and a gunshot, and he turned to see two more spiders plant themselves at the cave entrance and chitter, raising his axe and moving towards them with his Gauntlet held out almost like a shield.

Yang slammed her fist down into the face of her spider, orange blood spattering along her shoulder, and he hesitated for the first time since the fight had started. Beside the blonde Blake landed, cutting up and severing its leg in another spray of dark orange ichor while Ruby severed its abdomen and Weiss caught her breath beside her. Tai moved away from the now very dead Spider and rolled his shoulders with a smile, ready for the next bit of the fight, but…

Something tugged at his mind, like a memory he'd mostly forgotten, and neither of the larger spiders were moving to attack them. And they didn't look like Grimm, covered in black carapace and dark grey fur and striped with reds and greens, they looked like spiders. When Tai stepped too close they shrank back, hissing fearfully, and he blinked in surprise at the next noise.

"No more kill, pleasssse… No more fight. No want." And suddenly, everyone froze, turning wide, shocked eyes on the two furry, spine covered spiders. "Pleasssse, we talk instead. Yes. Talk. Not fight and kill and tear and burn our young."

"You can talk?" He asked, voice cracking in sheer surprise. He gave Tai a look and the man glanced over his shoulder, the one not covered in orange ichor, and asked, "Do Grimm talk, Tai?"

"Not Grimm. No. Not big beasssstssss who want only to rip and tear and kill young and old." Whichever one was speaking hissed desperately, before one lumbered forward a step, small legs over its jaw twitching anxiously. "Sssspiderssss not monsssssters. Young not watched. Young attack magic. Young want food. Not want fight."

"Young…?" He glanced at the broken spider Yang stood above, twitching as it finally died and curled into a small ball as spiders did. "These are your… Your young?"

"Young brood. Sssmall. Not know much. Not yet. No. No. Not know of your kind. Only know magic. Taste of it. Smell. Feel." It said, mandibles clicking independently of its words as it spoke. "Can feel too. You. Metal man. Much magic. Old. Familiar."

"The Overlord'ssss magic…" The other hissed, moving towards him and stopping when his remaining trio of Minions got between them. And then Ruby too, her scythe held back and down in a hand. "No… No threat, caped one. Want talk. Only talk."

"You know the Gauntlet?" Jaune asked, stepping up to Ruby's side and laying his Gauntlet on her shoulder, "It's okay… If they do anything, tell the others to attack. Alright?"

"Got it." She nodded, relaxing a little as he moved forward to listen to the creatures speak.

"Sssstories ssssay made by old Overlord. Not know when. Then Overlord die, and we wait. Long time wait, yesss." The spider explained to them anxiously, or its clicking and twitching seemed to imply anxiousness to him. "Sssaw you open portal. Long time ago. Try to come through and speak. Portal closssed."

"Ah, I…" Didn't know, he wanted to say, but instead he shook his helmeted head and sighed. "Damn it, Gnarl… How did you not know about this?" Conveniently, the creature didn't respond, and he asked instead, "Alright, so… What now? I didn't know you were down here, I just came for the Portal-Stone down there."

"We lead! We lead!" They cheered, legs drumming excitedly on the stone hard enough he could feel the ground tremor. "We lead down into nest. To Portal-Stone. Then we ssserve again, yesss. Good fightersss, yess. Let Brown onesss ride on us. Fassst, very fassst, yes. We ssserve."

"Ruby? Tai?"

"Oh don't ask me shit about this, Jaune." The blonde shrugged, shaking his head and blowing air out of his mouth. "I don't know anything about talking spiders or, you know, your magic stuff that you got goin' on. Just make a call."

"I hate spiders…" Ruby complained, and the two creatures had the good grace to at least step away from her politely. Then she sighed and looked at him, shrugging, "But… You're the boss, Jaune. Whatever you decide, I got your back."

"Anyone else have opinions?" No one answered, though Weiss huffed irritably, and so Jaune shrugged and nodded. "Lead the way then, I guess. But if you are trying to trap me…"

"No trap, no trap. We ssserve not trap, Overlord." They assured him anxiously, one disappearing down the tunnel ahead of them while the other waited for him to move. "Pleassse. Trussst. We ssserve."

Nodding, he moved to follow them, taking a torch from a Minion as he went so he could see properly in the gloom of the tunnel and murmuring, "For the friggin' Overlord, I guess… All this crazy crap."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	18. Chapter 18

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"Master, it is so good to see you once again my Lord, and in one piece no less, I-"

He held up a hand, standing beside the pool with a small and knowing grin as Ruby hopped through most unperturbed, leaping to his side a foot away for safety. Next came Weiss, knees trembling and the back of her palm pressed against her mouth, eyes staring at the floor glassily as she wobbled away from the pool and sank to her knees. She was quickly followed by Blake who stumbled to a wall near the Portal-Pool and sat against it, sliding down with a strained face and her arms wrapped around her stomach. The last, and funniest as well to the young Overlord, were Tai and Yang, who both stepped out of the pool with stiff smiles and then fell flat on their faces with little 'bleghs' of Portal-sickness.

"Yeah, you get used to it, eventually." Ruby consoled her team and father, smiling weakly and laughing nervously when her father gave her a disbelieving and somewhat sour look. "Yeah, please don't throw up on the rug, Daddy… The Minions suck at cleaning stuff up, and I kind of like it."

"Gods, this cannot be your main mode of transport- Hurk!" Weiss made a sound, and face that was quite unlady-like and drew a snort from the black armored Overlord and the youngest of the group both. "It is not funny, you daft dolts! Oh, Gods, I think I'm going to be ill..."

"There is a Balcony behind the Portal-Pool, young Miss, and as the Mistress has said I would ask you not to ruin our fine rugs. Over the edge of the balcony is, frankly, far better if that is the way this ends up going." Gnarl rolled his eyes as he turned to his Master, "My Overlord, I would inquire on how your venture-"

"Oh, Gods, please no-" Weiss stumbled up towards the Portal-Pool and the balcony beyond, hands gripping her mouth and Ruby grabbed her to pull her out the door as fast as she could with rose petals trailing behind her.

So, not collecting that kiss anytime soon, he sniggered.

"-went in Vale… At least she reached the blasted balcony." Gnarl sighed, pinched the bridge of his nose and grumbled about 'weak stomached children' and 'his poor, Evil heart' before he changed gears and went on in spite of the retching sounds coming in from outside. "As I was saying, your Lordship, I am glad to see you returned to the Tower safe, sound, and with your job done. And done well, might I add. I never envisioned you would link the Portal-Pool and Shrine and recover more servants to boot!"

"He means the spiders." He said pleasantly when several sets of eyes snapped to him in alarm, offering a smile as well. "He knows better than to call my friends servants, especially as high up as we are right now."

"Completely transparent and entirely unwarranted threats on my physical health aside, Master." Gnarl grumbled, loud enough to be heard by the others but still be properly snarky. "I should like to send a collection of Browns through the Portal to begin getting the tunnels in proper shape for usage, and start harvesting spider-silk. As well as beginning to train Browns to ride them, as an aside, since we have nothing else for the Minions to ride."

"Spider silk?" He hadn't seen any webbing, in the caves the spiders had led him through. And given that they were literal giant spiders, he had been looking very, very hard for any webbing. "What would we need to use spider silk for? I mean, clothes I guess, if it isn't sticky or anything like that."

"Spider silk is incredibly strong, much lighter than the cloth and leather harnesses in your armor right now, and only sticky when the spider making it coats it in a particular residue. Or at least for these spiders it is, I don't know about the little ones." The Head Minion shrugged, watching the red-garbed Rose helping Weiss in and letting her sit on the floor while the others sat up, looking much less green now. "We made much use of the silk in ages past, garbing emissaries in them, making gambesons of it for loyal Humans and Faunus that served their Overlord willingly, and even tapestries to hang in the Tower."

"That sounds… Pretty nice, actually, Gnarl." He could already imagine the new, silk sheets he'd have made. And the wool-stuffed silken comforter he already wanted to look at getting, the sheer thought making him almost giddy. "I want the spider's nest expanded, Gnarl, and made more fitting of their status as servants of the Overlord."

"Meaning, Master?" Gnarl sounded curious, rather than judgemental as he usually did.

"Expand the tunnels in size and shape them properly like the Tower's halls, with banners hanging. These Spiders are servants of their Overlord, and I killed some of them. So I will consider the tunnels on the other side of that Portal as a part of the tower as the only kind of apology I'm in the position to give." Even if the spiders had assured him a dozen times over that they took no offense in him killing the spiders he had, since he couldn't help it. "Who does the actual processing of the silk into something we can use?"

"Browns, mostly, but the spiders used to help. And don't fret over a few dead spiders, it was just a bit of friendly stabbing. No harm done, at least none that matters." He answered, stepping forward a bit to shout at the Minions simply standing guard and snickering at the misfortune of his friends, "Bring bread and water for our Master's guests since you have the time to snicker, you buffoons! They've rested now and something on their stomachs will settle them a bit."

"My Minions, capital 'M' and otherwise, are valuable to me, Gnarl. I feel bad when I get them killed, how do you think killing them makes me feel?" The Head Minion shrugged but nodded, and Jaune continued on. "Send two dozen Browns and six Greens. I want the Browns working on bringing the caves up to Tower standards and style. We have the stone after all so we may as well use it. And I want the Greens scouting and handling guard duty, we don't want any nasty surprises showing up. And do it quietly, Gnarl, for Evil's sake and my friggin' sanity besides."

The last he had said in a quieter tone, letting out a breath as the stress of everything caught up with him. They'd need to be back to Beacon soon, he knew, or questions would be raised by Atlas and the Academy as to his whereabouts. And the team full of young girls who couldn't hope to compare in power to a so-believed professional huntsman like himself, and he knew from their disappearance and the rumors that could cause.

Then there was Ruby, who he saw helping her team and father get drinks down them along with the Minions. The girls, and even Tai, seemed somewhat put off by the armored, goblin looking creatures. A few hands tightened, fists curled, and weapons were glanced at anxiously by all involved.

But then Ruby started scratching one's neck and it leaned into it until it fell over, and that seemed to die out for the most part in their weak snickers. Which was fine enough, he supposed, and better than the dangerous even if sick glares they'd been getting from heavily armed men and women trained to fight. Heavily armed and trained people who, he knew, could kick his ass and his Minions with little trouble if he didn't unleash everything he had on them.

Weiss would be the easiest to deal with, the sickest by far and the frailest looking as well compared to Yang or even Blake. His Minions would be torn apart by them, though, and he didn't know how long it would take to rouse his Minions to battle and summon the spiders-

"What am I even thinking?" He asked himself, Gnarl turning from the sick Humans to give him a curious look. He spared the Minion a glance and waved it off, leaning his head against the back of his chair and closing his eyes comfortably. "Nothing, Gnarl, see to the preparations I just ordered and have chairs brought out for my guests. I would speak with them, when they are well enough."

A distraction to keep the Minion away while he dealt with his turmoil, but the small creature didn't know that and did as he was told with little beyond a 'Yes, master' that didn't help put him at eas. These were his friends and guests why was he even considering fighting them?

His Gauntlet, he suspected once again for the hundredth time, that presence weighing on his mind as always. Whatever presence, or mind, or however the hell Gnarl would describe it if he asked him about it, that dwelt in the thing and helped him. Or guided him, he guessed, since it seemed to only act in what it probably thought were his interests.

Through its own lens, of course, evil and twisted as that likely was given its point of origin. And all this assumed that the 'mind' behind the Gauntlet and the Tower Heart was even the same kind of mind as what he was thinking.

With force of will, he pushed it away and shrugged with a quiet sigh, as though shaking off a physical constraint of some kind rather than a mental weight. Raising the Gauntlet in a fist before him, he looked at the gem on the back of his hand and growled, "You aren't in charge here, thing."

"Jaune?" He nearly leapt in his seat, Mana flowing unconsciously, when Ruby's hand landed on his shoulder and he looked up at her. She blinked in surprise, head tilting to the side slightly as she asked, "Are you okay? You've been staring at nothing and mumbling for, like, ten minutes."

"I… I'm okay, Ruby." He sighed, smiling weakly at her and then nodding past her to her friends and father. "How are they? Not going to ruin my carpets or anything, are they? Weiss almost did."

"No, they're fine, they just-"

He heard the Portal-Pool crack to life, and he sensed something wrong in it, rising to his feet even before he saw the Minion stagger through and collapse, pickaxe clanging against the stone as he did. The Head Minion, followed by three guard-Minions, rushed to its side and knelt, glancing him over and looking to him with a scowl, "A work-Minion sent to Miss Emilia's camp, Lordship, and felled by bullets."

"Bullets… But Miss Emilia wouldn't shoot the Minions, Jaune what is..." Ruby gave him a look and he glared, snatching his helmet from the throne and slamming it down over his head, striding forward and bellowing orders.

"Ruby, Gnarl, gather the Browns and follow me through when you are ready. I can't wait for the Minions, not if the White Fang are attacking again." He saw Weiss and Blake bristle at the name, but didn't spare them a thought as he continued giving his orders, turning to his guests with an apologetic nod, "I'm sorry to ask, but we might need to evacuate people here. Can I ask you to help them if I do?"

"Why are those terrorists here?" Weiss asked, drawing Myrtenaster but looking shaky on her legs as her Aura flared around her and she shook her head. "Waste of Aura, but so be it… Jaune, answer me, please. What is going on?"

"Weeks ago, the White Fang attacked Emilia's stone-cutting camp, and I killed them to the last." He answered simply, Gauntlet clenching and unclenching anxiously as he spoke. "I thought the Browns had finished them all off, but I guess some escaped and they sent out for blood."

"I-If they didn't come back, and their commanders back in Mistral knew where they were going, they'd guess that something happened there and blame them for it a swell." Blake offered weakly, unhappy over something as she glanced to Weiss and then Yang. Looking back to him, Amber eyes hardened, "I can help you fight, if you need me to, Jaune."

"No, Blake." He said simply, turning to look at the Portal-Pool meaningfully, shaking his head as he spoke. "I can't risk it getting back to their leadership that you all were somehow here, too many questions would come up from it. And I don't have time to discuss this with you all."

"Jaune is the Overlord." Ruby added simply with a shrug, Gnarl giving her an approving look as she spoke. "This is his Tower, his people, his fight. He's in charge up here, team leader has spoken. No arguing."

"That doesn't mean he has to go by himself." Yang grumbled, pushing up with a flair of Aura herself and sighing. "We can help, you know."

"Not the way I fight, you can't. Trust me on this, guys, you're more useful here." He didn't like the idea of them seeing himi and the Minions cutting apart White Fang soldiers, not while they were still so new to all of this.

He couldn't let them seeing him like that color their opinions of him and his Minions, and even if they assured him it didn't bother them he knew better. Seeing the Minions gleefully cutting apart people would forever paint them as monsters leashed by him and nothing else which, while true, wouldn't make him being friends with them and working with them very easy.

"We'll come through as soon as we can, Jaune." Ruby assured him, smiling weakly and patting his shoulder as he turned and moved towards the Pool. Sounding anxious, she followed him and added, "I'll help everyone run away and protect the Shrine, Jaune, so you can go all out. Okay?"

"Hm." He stepped into the pool, raising his Gauntlet slightly to command it and the Portal-Pool through it. In a blink, the cool air of the Tower and Ruby's nervous wave were gone, and he was standing in the Portal-Shrine.

Outside, he heard barely muffled gunfire and screams through the stone, and scowled as he stomped towards the door and hefted his axe. At the door, his boot came up and slammed into the door with a small blast of Mana behind it. The door flew through the air, sunlight glinting off it as it did, and he stepped into bright light and glare cast by ice and snow confidently.

Snow he saw colored red in places, Minion bodies and the work crew both laying around the work area almost randomly, clutching tools he knew had been employed as weapons. He could see his Minions fighting still, around the administration building, with the Faunus workers fighting among them weakly against the heavily armored and more professionally fighting White Fang.

"O-Overlord?" He looked down at the frail voice, blue eyes widening as Emilia continued in spite of the reddening snow under her turning to slush. He tried to speak, but no sound came as his heart ached and his Mana surged inside him. "I k-knew you would come, please… Help my crew, they… We can't handle this, even with the Minions."

"Emilia!" He finally found his voice, kneeling in the bloody snow and resting a hand on her stomach gently. "You're going to be fine, okay? We'll get you to the Tower, and-"

"No time, Overlord. N-No time..." Her voice was weak and her uniform was as ruined as he knew her body would be under it, whites and greys darkened and covered in gashes and holes from the White Fang's weapons. Her hair was damp with blood, clinging to her head, and her eyes were glassy, her off hand hanging limply and too low to be natural. "Help them, Overlord, please… Don't..."

She shuddered suddenly and went still, and blue eyes widened even more before he roared and rose, and Mana suffused his being. Raising his axe as they turned, he let the Mana run wild, fire crawling along the entirety until the weapon looked to be made from nothing but fire. Several of the Faunus turned to him, raising rifles, and he acted on instinct as his Gauntlet rose and pulled at his Mana instinctively. Too far gone in his anger to truly think on it, he let it happen, and the rounds ricocheted harmlessly off a barrier of swirling blue Mana like lightning and fire that had been leached from the axe.

The gunfire died for a brief moment of surprise on their part and he pointed the axe at them challengingly, bellowing, "Who the fuck thought they could get away with attacking my people?! Because whoever did sent you all to your deaths!"

Another volley of useless bullets came in, and the barrier held as he pitched the axe in the air and caught it, taking two long steps and hurling it like a javelin. It slammed into the closest one with enough force to drive into the stone through him, and a flick of his hand used it to teleport to it. His hand wrapped around it and he wrenched it free, spinning and slamming the flaming weapon into a Grunt before she could turn to him fully. The blade bit down and cleaved her in half easily, the woman dying with a surprised yelp and the hissing of blood boiling in the fire, and he smiled.

"I'm the Overlord, and you are all going to die here! Minions, for the Overlord!" He shouted as his Minions shot into action, leaping onto the few surprised White Fang soldiers they could before they reacted and ripping into them with claws and fangs. He leapt on the next rifleman in the same way as he turned to fire at him, laughing and jeering, "Too late!"

His Gauntlet's claws tore into the rifle, ruining it before he wrenched his hand free and did the same to the man's throat and lifted him, turning and using him as a shield against a barrage unleashed by the third of the rifles that had turned on him. Several rounds bit into the body before they stopped and he used a Mana Burst to fling it at them, leaping behind it. The corpse hit the rifleman and she staggered, pushing it off before he thrust the spike of his axe between her breasts and drove her into the ground, like a nail into a wall.

Hearing footsteps he wrenched it free and swung it overhead, slamming it down on the swordsman that had rushed him and cutting him halfway down the middle before he yanked it out of his chest. Raising the bloodied weapon, he bellowed, "For the Overlord, Minions, slaughter them all!"

"For the Overlord!" He heard them cheer back eagery, leaping back into the fray and adding, "Who's next? I have time!"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	19. Chapter 19

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Official Supporters: 

Grand Priestess, Luna Haile -

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Priest, The Impossible Muffin, Priest, Xager the Chaos King 

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Initiate, Final Heaven 63, Initiate, Greg Gibson

If you want to be on the Supporter list, PM one of us for details or join our discord. Server ,.for details. Hope you enjoy reading my stories, and remember to post a Review/Comment to let me know what you liked and didn’t. 

So, Fanfiction will not let me link to discord. So, I apologize to every single FF reader for this, but please PM me for a join link. And please consider doing so, I enjoy chatting with you lot. On AO3, the link is viable : https://discord.gg/2UZncAm

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D iscord . gg (slash) kfhkfUb

Betas for This Chapter : 

XxX----XxX----XxX

Twenty tense minutes passed, Blake and Yang idling by the table with Tai while Ruby and a cohort of axe-armed and hide-armored Minions that massed in the hall before the Portal-Pool and waited in loose groups of bored Minions napping, yapping or snapping at each other as the time ticked on. Ruby sat beside it all, Crescent Rose unfolded beside her and leaning against the wall on one side and Weiss sitting on the cool stone floor on her other while they waited for something to happen.

And not a word from Jaune in that entire time, even to his Minions who he had gathered up for the fight ahead. And not even when Gnarl, currently sitting beside the Portal-Pool himself across from her and facing away from them pointedly, had heard nothing from him through his connection to the Overlord through the Gauntlet. Not a single whisper from the Overlord, even once.

Just the Minions idly fighting and snoring, Yang and her father cracking weak and strained jokes to break the silence, while Blake watched it all silently, her eyes glowing dimly even across the fire-lit Hall from the lights bouncing off the walls. All of it normal enough, but…

But she could feel something was off somehow. Or wrong, or messed up, or something like that somewhere around her. Like something was nudging her to that anxiety and worry, something more than just her own nerves over Jaune going into a fight without Aura and the people at the camp. Even though she'd seen him fight, the Minions working there could fight, and she knew the workers could even hold their own if push came to shove but still…

Something told her that something was wrong, and she couldn't shake it no matter how hard she tried to.

"Something is wrong, Weiss." She finally said quietly, right hand moving to grip Crescent Rose anxiously, seeking the familiar feeling of the weapon in her hand for comfort. The Schnee gave her a look, brow raising in an unasked question that she answered. "Jaune always sticks to his plans, Weiss, or… Or he calls for Gnarl and lets him know what's changed. A-And he always brings in his Minions, too."

"If he hasn't called for them, then surely he doesn't need them, right?" She asked, sparing the Minions a glance and grimacing. "I have to point out how likely that is to me, honestly, since I don't see much here worth trusting in combat."

"Hey, the Minions saved my life, Weiss." She snapped, a bit more defensive than she meant to and she knew it when Weiss flinched at the words. Smiling apologetically, and sparing a glance to make sure no one was watching - or more importantly judging her for the outburst - she apologized. "I didn't mean to snap, Weiss, I just.."

"You're worried." She observed, her own voice quiet and eyes avoiding hers. Ruby just nodded and mumbled a weak apology, and the Schnee sighed tiredly. "I… I get it, Ruby. At least a little bit. When you were gone, I… I was so scared, and upset, and I missed you, and I didn't know what to do."

"Weiss…" Gently, the young Huntress reached with her empty hand to hold the Schnee's reassuringly. The young heiress stiffened and looked at the hand for a strange second. Like she couldn't calculate what was happening somehow, and then huffed and let both drop with a murmured 'Dolt'. Ruby pouted, "Don't 'Dolt' me, like you don't like me holding your hand like the bestest friend ever. You know you like it."

"It's nice enough, I suppose…" The Schnee frowned slightly, giving her a sour glance, and added, "I was trying to make you feel better though, that's why you're the Dolt right now."

"I know, and… Thanks for that, it worked a little. Just having my partner back is nice enough, it helps a lot more than you might think." Ruby nodded, running her thumb along the metal shaft of Crescent Rose in thought and anxiety. "But, um, like I said a minute ago, something is wrong over there."

"Why do you think that?" Weiss asked quietly, giving her a genuinely curious look with a thin brow raised. "Jaune has fought plenty of fights, you told us all about it, so… Why should this be so different?"

"I… I don't know how to explain it, but I feel it in my heart or-or something like that." It was hard to explain, really, like it was just a… Push towards a suspicion of a vague notion, and that explained less than what she said had. "I don't know, Weiss, but… I know something is wrong out there. I just, I know it."

"I won't say I think you're right. I don't. You have no rational explanation for what you're saying, but…" Weiss sighed and rolled her eyes, nodding her head towards Gnarl's back. "I say go for it, if you are as sure as you say that you are. They call you 'Mistress', right? So act like it and make some demands, go through on your own if they won't come with you."

"Gnarl won't listen to me, though…" Ruby whined weakly, grimacing, "He only listens to Jaune on anything important. Whatever I say just… Gets ignored, or pandered to, beyond making cookies or something."

"Make him listen, then, Ruby." Weiss said simply, pulling her hand free and hugging her legs to her chest, resting her chin on her knees and smiling at the younger girl. "Threaten him if you like, or appeal to is loyalty to Jaune as this 'Overlord' thing that I still don't quite know the purpose of. Or just go around him and use that… Wading pool thing we used to get her, to get to him, if you can."

"I can't use it without…" She blinked, looking at the pool, and her eyes narrowed as that same kind of suspicion guiding to a guess tugged at her again. Like rope around her waist, pulling her towards the pool. "Or-Or can I…?"

"Ruby?"

She knew she couldn't use the Portal, not without Jaune or Gnarl or the Minions to help her. She knew that in the same way she knew how her scythe's mechanisms worked, or that lopping off a Beowolf's head would kill it. Empirical proof and everything she'd learned both told her as much, and with absolute certainty. But…

But that odd sense pulled her to stand, collapsing Crescent Rose as she did and ignoring Weiss' concerned calling of her name. Instead she focused on what was in front of her, and took two steps, then without hesitation leapt for the water, which pulsated and crackled with sudden, vibrant energy as she flew through the air. Gnarl turned in surprise but had no time to react. Inside a second, she heard half a dozen voices - and a lot of Minions - call out to her, and then a roar of electrical energy and the familiar yanking and spinning sensation and then… familiar blackness for what felt like minutes but could only have been a few seconds.

She slammed down into the stone floor of the Portal-Shrine, squawking in surprise and rolling across it in a mess of limbs and tangled cape. Choking on a breath, she smelled and tasted smoke, and forced herself to rise and look for the door. It was open, which was already a bad sign, and she could hear fighting outside. Gunfire intermittently for the most part, and overshadowing that massively came the harsh sounds metal on metal or metal on flesh along with cries of pain and something else more bestial but distinctly human that sent a thrill of terror up her spine to coil around her heart.

Still, she transformed her scythe into rifle form and moved for the door, her rifle loaded and a finger hovering anxiously near the trigger.

Taking a breath to steady herself, she shoulder open the door and knelt, sweeping the business end of her rifle across the open ground.

Jaune's axe came up and then down on a White Fang soldier clad in heavy winter gear in front of him, cleaving halfway through his or her chest and driving them to the ground hard enough that she winced. Wrenching it free, he caught the swing of another rushing at his back in his gauntlet and turned, bringing the point up under their chest and into their stomach and stabbing up with it as hard as she was willing to bet he even could. The woman, her scream too shrill and piercing to be anything but a woman's, cried out as she was hoisted in the air like a banner while Jaune looked around himself at the scattered, wounded and terrified looking workers and White Fang both.

With a loud, cruel laugh he yanked the axe to the side and threw the woman away from himself and turned as another Faunus rushed at him. This one was massive, and wielding a sword as tall as Ruby herself in both hands, but his swing was wild and telegraphed beyond any reason. Full of unbridled power that could crush even an Aura wielding Hunter under the sheer force of it, but aimed so poorly that Jaune simply ducked under it and the man stumbled by. Or would have, if the Overlord hadn't brought his Gauntlet up and used the claws to rip out his throat as he stepped by.

A series of cracks sounded and the bloody Gauntlet rose, the Dust rounds seeming to impact the very air as it swirled in front of him only to then shoot right back and rip through the lightly armored attacker. One of the White Fang, already bleeding from their shoulder and arm hanging limp at their side, made a desperate run for the exit and Jaune turned, pivoting on his heel and hurling his axe through the air. It slammed down into his back and then through, digging into the ground and holding the spasming terrorist upright before he fell limp and Jaune appeared beside hm with a crack and pulled the rest of the haft through his chest.

Only five White Fang were left now, wounded and tired and trembling in fear, and the closest threw up his hands as he approached. Jaune said nothing, just cutting low with his axe and cleaving the thin man's chest open. He fell with a wheeze and, as the next two scrambled away and Jaune closed on them in long and fast strides that the wounded fighters couldn't match, Ruby moved as fast as she could with her Aura flaring around her.

"No, Overlord, stop it before you- Eep!" His axe came down out of instinct and she squeaked in surprise, Crescent Rose expanding and spinning to bunce the strike away. Still, it drove her back and numbed her hands, and Ruby looked up at Jaune in stunned shock that he'd actually hit her. "O-Overlord?"

"Move, girl." He growled, voice low and husky in a way that sent thrills of fear and something else up her spine. He pointed his axe at her, the long axe almost reaching her where she stood and the curve of the head angled inwards towards her. "This is not your concern. So leave."

"Of course it's my concern, and I'm not going anywhere." She shouted, raising Crescent Rose warily with the curve of her scythe behind her head and her off hand gripping it halfway up the shaft towards the head while her other held onto the firing mechanisms. "This isn't you, Overlord! They're giving up, you're just murdering them! Why?!"

"They killed my servants. They killed Emilia, who was a friend of the Tower." He leaned forward, snarling lowly, and she saw the glowing embers in his helmet where his eyes should be. Like a Grimm, she realized with a chill in her stomach, only with a kind of golden color instead of red. "Or maybe they just offended me, and this is fun right along with being payback for what these animals have done to my people. Does it really matter? I am the Overlord, after all."

"You're not like that! You're better than that, Overlord, I-" She argued, taking half a step towards him on instinct and freezing when he moved curved blade of the axe against her throat. Her Aura would protect her, she knew that, but… It was still scary, having something against her throat like that. "I'm your friend, Over- Jaune. And-and whatever else we are, I don't know, but… But we're close. So close to each other, I don't even know how to describe it."

"Then why are you in my way?" He demanded, lowering the axe and closing with her before she could react. His Gauntlet close around her throat threateningly, pulling her close enough that her scythe was pressed between them. Useless, she knew, and that was probably part of the point. "Why are you in my way then, hm? I asked you twice now, and you haven't answered me."

"I'm your friend." She answered simply and loudly, raising a hand to wave away the bloodied and dirty workers shuffling anxiously. If they intervened, or if Jaune thought they would intervene, that would be bad. "I'm your best friend, and something else that's… Romantic, I think, but I-I don't know about any of that."

"If you are one of my people, my friend, then get out of my way." He snarled, pulling her to the side and shoving her away towards the Portal-Shrine. She stumbled on the ice and snow, but caught herself and turned to look back at him, and he added. "Go back to the Tower, if you're mine. I won't let them get away with hurting my people!"

"Then don't let them!" She shouted back, waving a hand at the wounded White Fang and explaining before he could interrupt, walking back towards him while she spoke. "They surrendered, right? Take them prisoner! Turn them over to Atlas if you want, or… or imprison them yourself, interrogate them, make them work for you. But being a murderer is not what you are going to want tomorrow!"

"We have rope." Shaun, she'd know his voice anywhere even if it sounded pained and strained, added from behind the armored Overlord. Jaune rounded on him and he recoiled, but stood his ground regardless. "W-We have, uh, ropes and stuff. We can tie them up, and I'm sure you have somewhere to put them. Or we can, uh, we can just keep them here and call Atlas to come and get them."

"Jaune…" She whispered, closing the distance with him fully and resisting the urge to flinch when those yellow eyes bored into her own silver ones. With a flick of her hand, Crescent Rose collapsed down and she raised her other to his shoulder, smiling. "I know you're hurt, and angry, but… But you have to calm down and call Gnarl and the Minions. The Grimm have got to sense this, they'll be swarming through the woods soon."

"No. I want them all to die, Ruby, I-I want to kill them. I want to enjoy it, Ruby." He blinked suddenly, yellow eyes winking out as he did, and started to shake slightly. Like he was shivering under her hand, before he finally asked in a low voice. "What is happening to me… This isn't me. I… I don't know what I even am any more."

"You're my best friend." She said quietly, stepping in and pressing herself against his armored chest without even a second to consider the flecks of blood and frigid surface. "You're my best friend, and my Overlord, a-and I want to kiss you right now and make you stop hurting because I know you are, a-and I don't know why I want that but I do and I don't care why it's happening. So, I just… Hug me, please."

He did, wrapping his Gauntlet around her, and sighing. After a second, he asked, "Do you want to come out in the woods with me, maybe, uh, kill some Grimm together? Just you and me, I mean?"

"That sounds fun, yeah." She nodded, pulling away from him and putting on a firm face as she turned. 'Just you and me' rang in her ears pleasantly and set her stomach spinning, but she forced the thought away and spoke. "Shaun, Jau- The Overlord is going to come with me out into the forest to kill Grimm and calm down. Get the White Fang tied up and, uh, call Atlas to come and get them."

"Leave one aside, and make sure to ask about a bounty or something. We'll need finances to get this place up and running once again. Once that's done… Talk to the white haired one at the Tower and see about getting this place under new management." Jaune ordered quietly, turning to give him a respectful nod. "Assuming you would be willing to work for me, of course."

"O-Of course." He nodded, trying in spite of his bloodied side to stand up straighter. "I'll, uh, I'll get everything cleaned up for you like you said. I'll get the bodies taken care of and, you know, hide all the dead Minions somewhere and then get on the horn. What, uh, what about the one I'm keeping away from Atlas?"

"Hand him over to Gnarl, Shaun. I have plans for him. And tell the Minions to have Gnarl prepare a proper burial for Emilia, too." The Overlord growled, voice low as he turned and began to stalk towards the gate out into the woods. Ruby rushed after him and gave him a curious look and he sighed as he explained. "The White Fang attacked my people, Ruby. That's the second time, and this one feels personal. That, combined with what happened to you?"

"I can't let that go." He shook his head slowly, taking a deep breath of the freezing air. "This means war, Ruby. The White Fang will pay for what they did here. Are you okay with that?"

"Yes." She nodded quietly, looking at the ground as they walked and smiling slightly. "As long as you're you, and I get to stay with you being, you know, you then I don't mind fighting. They need to be stopped, after all."

"Keep me me, Ruby. Please. If you can, I don't want to be whatever that was." He asked quietly, taking a quick and long stride ahead flicking his armored fingers against the snow and ice-covered trunk of a tree as he passed to wipe the blood away before he let her catch up and put an arm around her shoulders gently. When he squeezed her against him affectionately, she felt her heart start to hammer away. "I don't know what that was, but… I don't want to be vicious and evil like that."

"I'll try, Jaune, I promise." She smiled up at him, almost beaming in spite of everything through sheer force of will. "Whatever you need, I'll be there, no matter what. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. S'my job as a Mistress of the Tower, Gnarl told me so. Taking care of the Overlord."

"Well, that's morbid…" He joked, the two chuckling quietly before he grinned. "So, you want to get one of those kisses you mentioned while we're out here?"

"Jaaaaaaune, come on." She whined, burying her face in her hands and flushing hard enough that her face felt like it was on fire. "D-Don't be mean and start teasing me, I was being open and trying to calm you down, you big… Dumb jerky d-dummy."

He just chuckled, the sound rumbling in his chest against her ear pleasantly, and squeezed her shoulder again before releasing her. "Come on, Mistress Ruby. Let's start Hunting."

"Y-Yeah." She nodded, flicking Crescent Rose behind her to extend it once again and smiling widely. "J-Just you and me, out on a Hunting date like my mom and dad always did when we were growing up. They used to go all the time, said it was… Fun, and they always came back until… Until Dad did and Mom didn't."

"What happened?" He asked gently, turning to glance at her over his shoulder and resting his axe across his broad and armored shoulders. "If you're okay with telling me about it, I mean. I don't need to know, or get any details on it, I just… Want to know about you, I guess, you know?"

"Grimm got her. Beowolves, Uncle Qrow told me about it. Just too many for her to fight all by herself, and they wore her down. Tale old as time, Uncle Qrow said to try and… You know, lighten it up." She answered quietly, shrugging her shoulders and sighing tiredly. It felt like a weight settled on her as she talked, but she pressed on in spite of it. "Just how it goes, sometimes. It's, uh, it's okay. I'm over it, Jaune."

"You're a strong person, Ruby." He complimented, and that sent a thrill up her spine and butterflies in her stomach. Again. "I love that about you, you know. How good a person you are, and how strong willed you are."

"I-I'm not anything special, really." Why did he have to say that like it was something normal to say? It wasn't! "I-I'm not strong, not really, I just… I can't change it, you know? So I might as well move on. Keep moving forward, like my grandfather Monty always told me to when he was around."

"Stronger than me, that's for sure at least." He argued simply, shrugging his armored shoulders as he said it. "I think you're not giving yourself enough credit, Ruby. I think it's one of the most beautiful things about you, how strong and brave you are I mean, if you ask me."

Yep, her heart was going to detonate at this rate. She was absolutely sure of it. Or she would throw up, one of the two was going to happen at this rate.

"I'm lucky to have someone as wonderful as you in my life, Ruby." Whelp, that was it then, she was going to die out here. "I never thought I'd have such a cute girl like you going for a walk in the woods with me, though. I, uh, I'm rambling now. Sorry, I'm just in a mood I guess."

No, no, she liked this! She had to explain that to him, somehow, as eloquently as she could manage. She opened her mouth, imaging what Weiss would say or a maiden in one of her stories. "HermologyistmanJaune."

"Uh…" He turned, giving her a look with his head tilted to the side. "I… Don't speak whatever that was, Ruby."

Nevermind, she was already dead and this was her hell. Her cold, cold hell with Jaune, all alone… Okay, maybe just an embarrassing heaven, she supposed would be a fairer statement.

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#EmiliaDidNothingWrongPressFToPayRespects


	20. Chapter 20

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Ruby spun over his head, her scythe's blade ringing as it cut through the air and bisected the Beowolf that had leapt for his throat. Half went by him harmless and the other half, smoking and fizzling, he caught by a hind leg with his Gauntlet and spun, slamming it like a cudgel into a Beowolf behind him and caving in its chest. It flipped onto its back with a weak, pain filled whine, and went still after a couple seconds of its legs jerking weakly. A third behind it rushed for him before its head exploded in a mess of fur, muscle and inky black smoke, the body tripping over its fellow and falling past Jaune as he turned aside to let it go.

"Good shot, Ruby." He said over his shoulder, looking up at Ruby crouching on a low and thick branch of one of the pines around them. She nodded, lowering the rifle in her arms an inch and then looking off to his right and he sighed, "Yeah, I know it's there. I'll take this one, if you don't mind."

"Sure, Jaune. I got your back though, if you need it."

A Beowolf, the last one as well, leapt from his axe-side and the weapon came up, Mana sparking along it and summoning a spinning orb of mana into the air that the Beowolf slammed into, limbs snapping as it spun and was then hurled through the air and crushed in a soft heap of broken bone and muscle, fizzling and smoking where it had fallen. Leaning on his axe, he smiled and sighed contentedly while Ruby dropped down and moved to join him.

"I am a markswoman, Jaune. I kind of have to be a good shot, you know? Part of the job description." The air in front of her fogged with her breathing and she brushed a strand of sweaty hair out of her face and behind her ear, smiling up at him regardless of how tired she was. "And, you know, killing Grimm too. Which is fun, even if it's… Kinda not the point, right now, at least..."

The point normally being to protect people, and killing the Grimm now was nothing more than… Stress relief. Simple, sweet, sadistic stress relief in the form of killing monsters.

"You're cold, and we've been running for a while. Let's go get warmed up, and… I'll get some food for us, once the fire's going." He said, turning and heading back the way they'd come, eyes scanning the ground for branches and limbs as he went and tucking them under his arm. "I, uh, I'm not the best hunter, I know, but-"

"Jaune, it's been two days." She cut him off, raising her rifle in one hand and pulling the magazine with the other, grimacing at what she saw. "I have ten rounds left, no refills, and I'm tired. Two days, Jaune. Are we going to talk about why we're out here?"

"I'm… I can't go back, not after what happened to Emilia, not until I-"

"Uh uh, Jaune. Uh uh." She held up a hand, collapsing her scythe and returning it to the back of her hips, which she cocked and the crossed her arms while she glared at him. "Jaune, I know you're hurting, and… I've given you time, but you have to get back."

"Ruby, I'm still not… Not together, yet." He sighed and threw the stick to the ground, leaning against the tree behind him, sliding down the bark to sit on the frigid ground, his axe leaning against his shoulder. "I killed people, Ruby, and… And I've done that before, alot, and sometimes it felt good. Because, you know, killing bad people and that means saving others, but…"

"But when I showed up, you were enjoying killing people who had given up." He nodded and she sighed, nudging him with a foot and telling him, "Scooch over, I'm sitting next to you, my legs are hurtin' from all this hiking." He rolled his eyes but did as she asked, scooting over and spreading his heavy cloak on the ground a bit so she could sit on it. "Jaune, you… That Gauntlet is affecting you, somehow, and me too."

"I know, that's why I'm out here. I can't even control myself…" He raised the Gauntlet, scowling at it from behind his mask before letting it drop to the ground beside him with a dull thump. "I'm changing, Ruby, and… I don't know how much of that is me just growing up, you know, normal stuff and how much is this damn Gauntlet."

"Does it really matter?" Ruby asked quietly, the taller blonde turning to give her a shocked look. She shrugged simply, smiling awkwardly and explaining, "You can't not have it on, Jaune, you'll die if you take it off. And you can't stop it from messing with you, or me either, and I know exactly what that means I have to deal with."

"And…" He sighed, shaking his head, "How do you deal with it? What do you do?"

"I keep moving forward." He shrugged, bumping her shoulder against his gently and smiling brightly in the dim light of the forest, sun low in the sky. "I'm your Mistress, means I have a job to do. 'M also a Huntress too, and some other stuff, but… I can't change whatever the Tower or the Gauntlet are doin' on my own, so… I don't let it get to me. You know?"

"Just like that?"

"Yep." She nodded, smiling at him for a second before that smile broke and she looked away, out at the snow. "You have a job to do too, Jaune. You have people to lead, a stone cutting camp to run now after… All that, and secrets to learn. I can't do anything about the influence that has on me except leaving you, which, nope. And now you have a fight to deal with, too."

"With the White Fang. Yeah..." He nodded, taking a deep breath of the freezing air and watching his exhale condense on the wind and vanish. "Tell me what I should do, Ruby."

"Make the world better, however you can." She said simply, Jaune snorting and giving her another look through his helmet. "Been thinkin' about it for a while. So… Yeah, do that, however you can figure out to. And if that means fighting the White Fang… Well, at least you have extra motivation to do it."

"Then I suppose it's time to start working on getting this fight running, and that means we need help." Rising, he sighed and looked down at her, "First we head to the Tower, and ask Gnarl very nicely what is going on. Then to Beacon, to meet Ozpin and ask why he let us go the way he did. And after that…"

"We go looking for a fight?" He nodded and Ruby returned the gesture, standing and hesitating for a moment, chewing her lip and digging her foot in the snow. "But, uh, I have a condition… I mean, I'm going to be fighting for you, and with you, so, uh, I have a demand. I guess. It's, uh, it's… Compensation. Yeah, compensation."

"What do you want?" He asked, turning and looking down on her with a raised brow. "Whatever it is, you can have it. If, you know, I have it to give you, not going to make a promise I can't keep."

"W-Well, it'll happen anyways and I'm, you know, still myself. So, um, you know, I-I want to choose it. In case I, you know, stop being me, or the Gauntlet's influence makes it happen, which I don't want. And I'm rambling, so…" She swallowed, glancing up at thim and then looking back at the snow for a few seconds. Then she half-shouted, half-squeaked, "I-I w-want a k-kiss."

"O-Oh." He finally said after a second, blinking and nodding for a few seconds before stammering, "U-Um, you want to… You want a kiss? Like, on the lips? And, uh, from me?"

"No, Jaune, I want to kiss a-a gosh diddly dang tree." She gave him a glare, but most of the heat died considering she was burning as bright as her cloak and her lips were pursed like a pouting child. "Yes, you, I… That Gauntlet and the Tower, or whatever is doing all of this to us, it'll make us do it anyways and… I want to pick it."

"Oh, uh… Okay, then, I guess." He hesitated for a second before leaning his axe against the tree and crossing his arms. Then uncrossing them when he thought that looked uncomfortable and then sighing and asking, "Uh, how do we… You know."

"I, uh, take off your helmet first. God, we're terrible at this..." He did, dropping it in the snow beside him and running his less armored hand through his hair to fight off the helmet-head he knew he had. "So, uh…" Ruby stepped closer to him, hesitating and shifting her hands along his breastplate a few times before finally settling on just hugging him, "There I am, so, just… Put your arms on my sides and lift me up, I guess?"

"Sure." His hands landed on her sides, just under her bust, and lifted her up so that their faces were more level. Then she leaned forward and moved her hands to his chest, his heart pounding away on his ribs like it was trying to go for a walk or something, and he asked in a quiet voice. "Like this, right?"

"Y-Yeah." She wiggled slightly in his hands, breath blowing across his chin slightly and feet pressing against his greeves, and asked, "I-I'm not too heavy for you, am I?"

"No, you're… Surprisingly light, actually. A little heavier than my axe, and I swing that around one handed, so you're… Not a problem." He adjusted her on his armored chest, the girl squeaking as he moved her against him awkwardly. "So, uh, what now?"

"Just, uh, like in the movies." She suggested weakly and he nodded, swallowing and looking down at her lips. Small, pale after so long outside, and cold looking. "J-Just do it, I guess. Quick, like, uh, like ripping off a band-aid- No, that's a bad analogy, stupid Ruby, stupid. Um, just... I don't know, m-maybe we shouldn't."

"Hm." He hummed, looking at those lips for a long second and then lifting her more, further up his chest so their noses almost touched. Ruby flushed, sucking in a breath and bringing her arms around to rest on his chest like she was going to pull away, but simply staring into his eyes instead. Nervous, he asked, "What color are my eyes?"

"W-What?" She blinked twice before she answered, "U-Um, blue, right now. Why?"

"Nothing." It meant he was in control, he was sure. His eyes had glowed, she'd said it at the work camp, and he took it to mean his Gauntlet was interacting with him. "I'll tell you later, I just wanted to check before I did this."

Without warning, he slid his Gauntlet around to her back and pressed her against him to keep her there and brought his other hand to the back of her head, pulling her lips against his as gently as he could as badly as he was shaking now. She 'eeped' as their lips met, stiffening against him for a moment before she let herself relax, hands clutching his pauldrons for a grip to keep her there. Her lips were soft against his own, and warmer than he'd have thought they would be in this weather, and the kiss only lasted a single electric second.

But to them, that felt like an eternity spent in a chaste kiss, and when he pulled away and lowered her to the ground, he had to hold he rup for a second. Blushing brighter than her cape, she rested her face against his armored chest and murmured, "Thank you, Jaune… That was perfect, I-I think."

"Yeah, it… It was nice." He nodded, running his fingers through her hair to straighten it and then letting her go, the girl stumbling for a second before she remembered how to stand while he knelt and retrieved his helmet. "Let's go home, Ruby. There's a lot to do. A funeral, paperwork to buy the camp properly probably, repairs to it, the spiders to deal with…"

"And a war to plan." She offered gently, smiling at him as he pulled the mask down over his face.

"Yeah. A war."

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"They've been gone for a day!" Yang shouted down at the Head-Minion, standing 'safely' behind a line of nervous looking Guard-Minions protecting him where he stood by the Portal-Pool. "Something i-is wrong, they could be… They could be hurt, or lost, or something! And you are going to let us go look for her."

"I will do no such thing." Gnarl snapped, confident behind his wall of Minions that he was safe. Or at least that he could escape through the Portal-Pool if push came to shove. "I don't trust any of you with the Tower's location, or existence, and without an order from Master I won't-"

"I will throw your skinny ass off the Tower if you don't-!"

"Yang, language. And let me try, you aren't getting anywhere" Her father chided, a hand on her shoulder and a small smile on his face, pushing her away from the Minions and looking down on them calmly while Yang threw her arms up in defeat. "Now, what she's trying to explain is that, if you don't help me find my youngest daughter, who is all I have left of my second wife, and who ran off in the woods with your Overlord, then I will take my time ripping your tiny little legs off like a particularly sadistic child would to a particularly trapped spider. Right, sweetie?"

"I-I-I, um…" Gnarl swallowed anxiously, the blonde man simply smiling levelly, eyes half-closed and head tilted to the side, cracking his knuckles. "N-Now, I assure you, they are both fine, sir. I-If Master were hurt terribly, or Evil forbid it dead, then I would know."

"And that helps us how?" Yang interrupted, standing next to her father while Weiss and Blake watched on from the stairs leading to the throne. "Hm, little… Goblin, how does Jaune being okay mean my sister is?"

"Because I would die before she did, if something bad were to happen. And Gnarl knows that, he scolds me for it all the time." The voice came first, before the energy crackling along the edge of the pool ignited fully and the armored form of the Overlord appeared awash in the bright and powerful light, Ruby just behind him. "So gnarl knows she's safe, because I would die to protect her."

"He, uh, he already did, almost." Ruby added, rubbing the back of her head and chuckling awkwardly, staring at the wall. "S-Sorry we took so long, uh, Jaune was… Upset, about what happened."

"What did happen?" Tai asked quietly, content for a moment now that his daughter was safe and in his sight again. "The gremlin wouldn't tell us, he just… Brought that woman's body through day before yesterday. What happened out there?"

"The White Fang attacked my people." Jaune snarled simply, pushing past him and moving towards his throne purposefully, reaching up with his gloved hand to pull his mask off and tossing it to a Minion. "They attacked them, butchered them, and my Minions with them. Few of them survived, all of them were hurt… Because they didn't get what they wanted last time."

"Those animals…"

"They wouldn't, it's impossible-"

"They did, Blake!" He snarled, spinning where he stood and sweeping his axe through the air with a shrill whistle of steel cutting through the wind. The woman flinched and Ruby gave him a chiding look, pouting and glaring with her arms crossed, and he sighed. Collapsing onto his throne, he let the weapon fall to the floor and growled, "I'm sorry, Blake… But you didn't see it. They sent their best fighters, armored and armed with rifles, against stonecutters."

"I-I'm sorry, I just…" Her gaze fell and Blake backed away a step, glancing between Weiss and the Overlord in fright. "They never did that before, I-I didn't… It's hard to think they would become this, Jaune, I-"

"Before, Blake?" He asked, voice low and eyes narrowed questioningly. Blake swallowed in surprise, suddenly very aware of the Minions around her and their yellow eyes centered on her. "What do you mean, before?"

"I-I, that is, I'm a-"

"Blake is a Faunus, who when she was younger served in the White Fang." Weiss interjected, stepping between the Faunus and Jaune and glaring up at him challengingly, a hand on Myrtenaster at her side. "As it became more violent and vicious, as you have seen in the last few weeks for example, she turned against it and deserted. She wears a ribbon to hide what, and who, she is for those reasons."

"She shared it with us when you…" Ruby shrugged, smiling apologetically, "When you died? She's a good person, though! She just… Lost her way, for a while, o-or maybe it's better to say that, um-"

"Blake, I'm going to ask you straight out and I want you to be honest." Jaune interrupted as gently as he was willing, smiling thinly in a strained and painful kind of way. "Are you with them now, and do you stand against me fighting them after what they did to my people and my Minions?"

"No, I'm not with them anymore, but… But still, I can't just let you." She swallowed, staring straight ahead at him with her jaw clenched and her hands curled into fists. "I-I don't want to see more people killed, Jaune, I… I know people in the Fang still, and I don't want them to die for something they weren't involved in."

"I'm not a butcher, Blake." He said quietly, giving her a small nod. "I won't murder innocent people, I promise you that." She dared to hope, but he went on before she could do more then let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding or understood why she was doing it. "But, they started this war. So I will fight them, because if they were willing to do this here, how often do they do it?"

"Groups don't commit massacres in single digits and then suddenly become little puritan movements, Miss Blake." Gnarl added, stepping between her legs without warning and shuffling up the steps one at a time like an old man might do while Blake flushed and slammed her knees together. "Like cockroaches, massacres tend to be. Catch one in the light and, well… You probably missed a hundred that skirried for cover."

"Still, you can't just start killin' people. S'not okay." Yang said quietly, putting her arms around Ruby and giving her a once over. "Hey, Rubes, what's up with your face? It looks like someone smeared your-"

"W-What do you want me to do then, Yang?" Jaune interrupted anxiously, leaning forward and shooting Ruby a terrified look before lilac eyes met blue. "Just ignore it? Let them kill more people? Imagine this somewhere else, like… Like Vale, or Beacon maybe. What would they do?"

"I don't know, but…" She gave her father a look, the man's eyes dangerously narrow as he looked at the seated Overlord, and asked him. "What do you think, Pops? I-I mean, Vale would go after 'em, yeah, but Jaune isn't… You know, a Kingdom, so it's different, right?"

"When I was little, the White Fang was super young and new. Peaceful protests, passing out literature, neighborhood cleanups and engaging Human communities in outreach programs to get people used to each other." Tai said in answer, giving Yang a sad glance, smiling in the pained way one did when remembering a tragedy. "They aren't that now. They changed into something bad, and they need to be stopped. Before more innocent people get hurt."

"I think we should just let Atlas handle this." Weiss cut in, standing prim and proper always in spite of having slept on the stone floor for two nights now. "They have a sizable military, a division of Specialists my sister serves in, and policing forces we can contact and have deal wit the White Fang. There is no reason we need to involve ourselves, and that includes you, Arc."

"Listen here you disrespectful, half-sized, snow flurry pigmented little shit-"

"Gnarl, down boy. Bad Head Minion, no swearing either. I'll let Ruby get the spoon again if you misbehave." The Minion looked scandalized at the tone his master took with him, jaw gaping and looking to Ruby for help. She just shrugged and smiled helplessly, moving up the steps to sit beside his throne and lean against it. "Weiss, Atlas knew they were doing this. Atlas didn't, and doesn't, care about a group of random Faunus stoneworkers out in the snow. I won't leave this to them now."

"But-"

"That is my decision on the matter, Weiss." She flinched at his tone, commanding but not shouting, and reverberating through her and around her powerfully. "I won't pretend to command anyone here who is not a Minion to join my war, but this war is happening. You are all free to come and go as you wish, of course, and I hope you'll understand why I have to do this."

"I disapprove." Weiss cut in, holding up a thin finger with a grimace. "But… I understand, Jaune. What you saw, what happened to your friends, I… I understand what you're going to do, and why. I've lost enough family members and family friends to understand wanting this battle."

"You saved my life, and my daughter's, so…" Tai shrugged, smiling roguishly and crossing his arms over his chest after a second, "I'll fight this with you, but after that we're even. On all of it. Deal?"

"Deal, and thanks, Tai." Jaune nodded, smiling at the older blonde in relief and gratitude. "I can't even come up with the words to explain how nice it will be having someone I can trust at my back. It means alot to me."

"I have to fight." Blake said simply, eyes avoiding his and fists curled so tight that he could swear he saw sparks of Aura fighting the damage. "I-I made the White Fang, I contributed… I don't get a choice."

"Everyone's got a choice, Blake." Jaune interrupted meaningfully, sighing when she didn't respond and turning to Ruby.

"I'm in, of course, Jaune." Ruby nodded, smiling up at him warmly. "S'my job too, to protect this place, and the Minions and… Stuff. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it, just… Don't make me fight people, if it can be helped. I don't want to, you know..."

"I won't, Ruby, and thank you." He knew she'd fight with him, of course, she'd never turn on him or leave him behind to deal with something. Because of the Gauntlet or not, they were… Well, he wasn't sure if they were together, but they were certainly a thing. He gave Yang a small smile and asked, "I'm going to go out on a particularly sturdy limb and assume that means you're in too?"

"Hell yeah." Yang slammed her fists together, grinning excitedly at the prospect of a good fight. "Gonna bust some heads, save some people's skin, and have a good Gods damn time." Then she winked at her sister and added, "'Sides, gotta make sure you don't make any moves on my innocent little sister."

"A-Ah, y-yeah." Ruby choked next to him, forcing out stiff laughter while Jaune leaned back and smiled stiffly. Yang saw both and gave her father a look before, at his nod, taking a warning step towards Jaune. "G-Guard Minions, protect me!"

"Are you going to actually kill him, or merely maim him greatly but in ways I can heal?" Gnarl asked, Yang smirking and holding up two fingers in answer. Gnarl shrugged and nodded, turning to his Master with a thin smile and then waving his hands, "Minion-Union mandated break, boys and evil creatures made of darkness and wickedness made manifest. Ten minutes, enjoy your break."

"Gnarl!"

"N-Now, Yang, Daddy, calm down. Okay?" Ruby stood up, getting between the two angry blondes and the significantly more nervous than he had been a few minutes prior Overlord. "W-We didn't do anything bad, j-just a kiss. That's all. Okay? A-And it was my idea."

"Calm down, Xiao Longs, before you do something hasty that you may come to regret in some fashion." Weiss chided gently, giving them a polite smile and then turning to Jaune, head tilting dangerously. "We can't properly see to his punishment until we know for sure what his crimes are, now can we? So, Jaune, let's arrange a little confession, shall we?"

"I-I didn't, I mean I don't…" He glanced to Tai, the blonde rolling his shoulders and stretching his arms, and then to Weiss who had drawn Myrtenaster and was inspecting the Dust threateningly. Then he looked at Ruby, pointed at them, and said, "Get the spoon, Ruby! Quickly!"

"I don't think a wooden spoon is going to help, Jaune!" Ruby cried, leaping high at Yang and tackling her to the stone suddenly. "I got one, run! As fast as you can, before Weiss- Shoot, Yang, that hurt!"

He tried to rise, but something held him down, and when he looked at the back of his throne his face paled. A swirling black glyph spun there menacingly, and he couldn't pull himself free of it no matter how hard he tried.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"So, Emilia..." Jaune said quietly, Ruby behind him in the snow with Gnarl beside her, the blonde Overlord looking down at the neatly piled rocks arranged on the cliff overlooking the sea. Kneeling, he laid his human hand on the center of it and bowed his head, choking on a sob, "I'm sorry, Emilia. I failed you, I-I failed all of you. I should have been there, been able to protect you. But I wasn't. Please, Emilia, I-I don't deserve it, but please. Forgive me, please, I can't… I can't say how sorry I am, the words don't exist!"

"Please, I-" Ruby's hand settled on his shoulder, the blonde looking up at her from behind his mask, and the woman gently removed it. "Ruby, I don't know how to do this, what to say o-or, I can't-"

"I know, Jaune, it's… It's hard." He laid her hand on his over the stones, smiling and settling in next to him, leaning against his side. "We went out into the forest yesterday, Miss Emilia. We, uh, we had to clear out the Grimm before they attacked the camp. What was, you know, left of it. We protected everyone left there!"

"And we'll keep doing it, no matter what. I promise you, Emilia, the workers will be safe, and fed, a-and well paid, even if I have to put myself in front of them to keep them that way." Jaune vowed, fingers curling around the frozen rock hard enough they ached. "I'm sorry I failed you, but… But it won't happen again."

"Also, I finally got my courage together and asked the Overlord to kiss me. And his real name is Jaune." He gave her a surprised look at the first sentence, tears freezing on his face as the wind slammed into him, and she returned his gaze with a small smile of her own. "I guess I… Wanted to honor your advice, in the end."

He pulled her into a hug, burying his face in the crook of her neck, and she let him. Smiling warmly all the while, whispering comforting words to him while their hands held one of the stones over Emilia. Jaune didn't know how to bury someone that he loved, not like this. But Ruby did, she'd done it before, and now she knew what he needed. A shoulder to cry on, and arms to hold him, until he was done grieving.

And she'd be there for him, no matter how long he needed that shoulder, but even if she'd tell everyone it was because she'd promised him and she wouldn't lie… Truth was, she was just being selfish.

Because that was what she wanted.

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	21. Chapter 21

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Hey, Weiss!" Ruby cheered, joining her outside on the balcony to enjoy the relative warmth of the bright Atlesean morning. Looking out around them she smiled, eyes wide as she took in the sight around them, "How'd you sleep?"

"I slept well enough, given the… Accommodations." Which were minimal, but this was the last morning to be spent here before they returned and given the Tower's apparently still being repaired state, worker Minions milling about from the time the sun rose to well after it fell deep inside the Tower and around it as well. "You're up surprisingly early, though, given I didn't have the thought to set a dozen alarms and wake you up myself."

"I always get up early now, come out here to sit and watch the sun on the snow. The way it tints everything orange and pink is… Pretty. Chilly, but pretty." Weiss nodded understandingly, shuffling the furs wrapped around her shoulders at the reminder of the climate's trials and leaning against the stone balcony. "I'll never get tired of this view as long as I live here…"

"You're staying?" Weiss had long suspected it, after what she'd said yesterday obviously but also for other reasons besides. "What about Beacon?"

"The team will stay together, Weiss, and I'm going to, you know, attend." She promised, smiling and tilting her head at the Schnee innocently. Like it had been so obvious, and she would never have considered anything else. Turning to look back out on the snow, leaning against the balcony's edge like Weiss was, she added, "Jaune and Daddy are going to come with me back to Beacon when we head back. He says Ozpin knows stuff and might be able to help Jaune out."

"What on Remnant could Headmaster Ozpin know about… All of this?" She waved a wand at the Tower's base, where a giant spider carrying several Minions was headed off into the snowy forest to do something. "All of these creatures, and… Magic, which is odd to even consider as a reality and somehow more so than the creatures themselves."

"Yeah, that sounds about right." She agreed, nodding with a small and understanding smile. "Gnarl says that the Minions and everything else are all physical things we see, and hear, and stuff. But Magic… Isn't. So it's harder for us as people to, you know, gel that than giant spiders, and Minions, and fireballs and stuff."

It made sense, people were always more inclined to learn through tactile realizations than through simply being told it was the case. 'Seeing is believing' was as much a fact of the matter as, in many cases, the facts and matters themselves.

People could be quite irrational, she knew. She'd been taught to use that by her father and his tutors.

"That doesn't explain why the Headmaster would, himself, know anything and be able to help in any way." Weiss pointed out, Ruby humming understandably next to her.

"Daddy didn't explain, he said it wasn't really his place to. He sounded..." She shook her head, glancing at Weiss and then back out at the snow with a sigh. "I don't know, but he sounded so tired when he was telling us about it. Like he was angry, and sad, and all at once but so exhausted of it and resigned that he didn't care. I-I think that Ozpin got him involved into something, but I don't know."

"What kind of something could make him act that way, I wonder..." Tai Yang was a grown man, and a vetted Huntsman besides, and even though he suggested going to Ozpin to talk to him the two clearly had a past that had divided them.

"I don't know, Daddy…" She sighed, and suddenly Ruby looked older somehow. Only for a moment before she brightened and moved on. "Daddy said that he'd make Ozpin explain their past to me and Jaune, and everything else, but that it wasn't his story to tell. Whatever it is sounds big though. And I kinda know how big revelations sound."

Okay, Weiss couldn't argue with that, especially when a Minion came outside with two fur-laden metal chairs over his shoulders scraping along the stone floor.

"Master is awake and has meals preparing, Mistress." The small creature reported dutifully when they had sat down, head bowed slightly like a servant addressing a queen in an old story. "The hunting parties that returned last evening brought venison, fish, and seal. Foragers also came with peppermint berries and ginger roots. What would you prefer?"

"Does the Overlord have opinions?" Ruby asked, sounding for all the world - and impossibility of it, because she was RUby Rose of all people and clearly not nobility of any kind - just like some nobility in movies always did.

"Master mentioned a certain craving for venison and peppermint berry juice, Mistress, but left the matter to you as your guests are here." It gave her a glance and then looked back to the ground unsurely, asking, "Does the mistress' friend have an opinion?"

"I-I have always been partial to venison." Even if it was a bit gamey and tough for her tastes, but those were the options and she'd survive with them. "And peppermint berry juice sounds interesting as well."

"There you go, then, Spit." The Minion stiffened at what Weiss guessed was Ruby using its name, then smiled and shuffled off.

"How can you tell-"

"He has a little nick in one of his ears, and some blue in his eyes that the normal Minions don't." Ruby answered before she could really ask, grinning at the surprised looking Schnee. "They're weird, but I like 'em. And once you pay attention, you can tell 'em apart pretty gosh darn easy. And kinda my job."

"You're different now, Ruby." Weiss said after a few seconds, eyebrows raised impressedly.

"Yeah, I… I dunno, I guess maybe I'm just taking the responsibility well?" She shrugged, standing up suddenly and stretching her arms high over her head. "Well, uh, on that note I gotta run. Make sure everything's in order with Jaune and Daddy."

"Okay…" Weiss watched her leave through the door, shaking her head slowly when the young woman was gone. "You have changed a lot, Ruby Rose, and seemingly in a good way…"

So why did something feel so strangely off, then?

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It's not your fault, Kitty-Cat." Yang said quietly, following Blake as they walked through the snowy forest surrounding the Tower, the black, monolithic structure casting the world around them into shadow. "You couldn't have possibly known better, you were too young to. You can't blame yourself for bein' an angry kid."

"Yes, I can." She dismissed casually, tucking the fur cloak she'd been given tighter around herself as wind swept by. "If you'd taught Ruby the wrong things growing up, and she'd grown up and started hurting people?"

"I'd have hated myself, called myself a failure for teaching my baby sister the wrong stuff, or just not teaching her the right stuff." The Faunus turned to look at her partner, a finger pointing at her to call out the admission for what it was. "And I'd be wrong for it, Blake. S'the point here, that you're just not right about that."

"Yang, I was one of the members that led us into violence." She said sharply, and silently too for fear of little brown ears that might be somewhere nearby. "Adam may have been the one that lead that charge officially, but I let him use my name to validate what he was doing. Belladonnas have always been at the front of the Faunus' fight for liberty. A Belladonna chieftain lead the Faunus in the Revolution, then my parents lead the White Fang in its peaceful days."

"And I put my name down in the call for violence." She finished, cutting a hand across herself as though that ended the discussion of guilt. "I put my name on it, and now hundreds or more have died for it. How is that not my responsibility?"

"Responsibility and fault are different things." Yang shrugged, moving on before Blake could do more than scoff. "You might be responsible for them, for fixing this mess, or maybe you just feel like you are. I don't know, I can't. I'm not in your position."

"Then what are you trying to say?"

"That it isn't your fault, Blake." She said simply, drawing a line between them with a finger in front of her, connecting them. "You and I are both going to fight them, after what happened to Jaune's people and Ruby that's just facts. But you don't have fault in what happened to the White Fang, or those people. You were a kid, and involved in shit you shouldn't have been."

"Then whose fault is it?" Blake asked quietly, arms spread wide gesturing around them again. "Whose fault is all of this bloodshed, and dying, that the White Fang causes?"

"I don't know, who took over when your dad left? I know you mentioned to me last night that he isn't in charge anymore."

"Sienna Khan."

"Well, there you go." Yang smiled brightly, bobbing her head and crossing her arms, leaning against the tree behind her comfortably with a foot propped up on a root that climbed into the air. "She was in charge, she was the adult there, and she used your anger and your name to get what she wanted. How old were you and Adam back then?"

"When we truly became violent, I was twelve or so and Adam was fourteen, about to be fifteen." Blake answered weakly, shaking her head and reaching up to massage her forehead in hopes of easing the ache in her head. "But I still went along with it, Yang."

"Which is why you're responsible for it, but not at fault for it." Yang grinned widely, eyebrows raised over her eyes and head tilted in that cocky 'I am always right' pose she took sometimes about things when anyone argued with her. "You were way too young to deal with that crap, so maybe your parents are to blame for you getting involved. Or at least not taking you out of it when it went all shooty bomby killy."

"And beyond them," she went on while Blake stood, mouth gaping like a fish while she floundered for a response, "there's Adam, but even he was kinda grey area on age and how much he should know how to behave. Sienna, though, gonna guess she was old enough to know damn well better. You wanna know the people at fault? Mommy and Daddy, a little bit, but mostly Sienna."

"I still feel like it's my fault, though." Yang nodded, knowing she would and glad to have made enough progress to get to this point at least. "I can see the logic you're using, a-and I even agree to an extent, but… I still feel differently."

"Emotions don't answer to silly logic, Kitty-Cat. So don't worry about it, as long as you know better than your emotions and don't let 'em wreck you." Yang shrugged, raising a fist and flicking her fingers to extend Ember Celica meaningfully. "Now, let's talk about what I'm going to do to that bitch for you, okay? Sounds more fun."

"Yang…"

"Look." She sighed, forcing herself to smile ever patiently the entire time for fear of Blake getting defensive. "We know that in this, the Fang were involved, yeah? Got a couple of the surrender folks to say it, so that's settled. And we know that when you were too young to know better, you were fighting. You ever go off to kill a camp full of innocent workers?"

"N-No." Blake shook her head sharply, almost angry sounding at even the suggestion she could have for a moment. "We only ever attacked security personnel, and mechanized units. Sometimes we would sabotage robots and drones too, or extra vehicles, if we wanted to raise the costs. But I never would have suggested or supported anything like what happened out here."

"Then you can't be blamed for it." Yang shrugged, waving a hand dismissively, "Even if you could be blamed for anything else, since you were just a kid. Which you can't. So does Sienna like cheese or lettuce on her knuckle sandwiches? Asking for a friend. Or, well, two of 'em."

She raised her fists with a grin and Blake rolled her eyes, "God damn it, Yang…"

Sometimes, Yang could be outrageously aggravating. And sometimes, Blake just wanted to kiss her for how kind she was.

She wasn't sure which of those she felt right now, and so simply rolled her eyes and turned back toward the Dark Tower, "Come on, Yang, let's get some food. Breakfast is surely on its way to the table by now."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Master, you called for me?" Gnarl asked, shuffling into his Overlord's chambers and looking around almost reverently. "My, I have been away from here for some time… It is impressive to say the least, my Master."

Thick furs now covered most of the walls, mainly wolf though a couple successful hunts had brought in frost-boar hides and burly auburn-furred bears and so the shades around his room looked like a hunter's hut might. A dozen shades of white, brown, russet colors, and shades of black all arrayed warmingly along the walls. The bed was layered fur, but soon would be replaced by comfortably silken blankets and sheets full of downy feeling furs. The hearth crackled by the exit onto his small, personal balcony, smoke puffing out of the chimney beside the balcony where he could see it through the open curtain. In front of it a thick white bear's pelt had been laid out.

Which is where the Overlord stood, in thin looking leather and fur robes, gazing into the fire silently.

"Master?" Gnarl tried again, shuffling closer anxiously, until he could reach out and prod his thigh. Jaune turned, looking down on him, and the Head Minion quirked his head to the side questioningly. "You seem quite distracted, Master. Are you well?"

"I don't know, Gnarl. I wanted to ask you about that, actually." He held up the Gauntlet, curling and uncurling his fingers slowly for several seconds before finally asking. "Do you know that this Gauntlet is messing with my mind? Ruby's too."

"The Gauntlet… Has a will on its own, Master, that much is true." The Head Minion started, shuffling to a small stool beside the fire and easing onto it, looking at the embered fire as he spoke. "It guides as best it can, and nudges you with its opinion, but I don't know how or why. Sometimes, it may not do so, and sometimes it does, and there seems to be no rationale to differentiate between the two to my eyes."

"It is not guiding me, Gnarl." Jaune growled quietly, turning and taking two long strides to the balcony door, tucking his robe around him and leaning there to look out around the Tower. "It's controlling me. Pushing me to snap, to let my temper out. Pushing Ruby to… To love me, I guess, as complicated as all this is. Even now, when I know I should be afraid of what's coming, I'm just looking forward to-to killing the White Fang."

"Should you not be?" The Head Minion asked simply, bushy brow raised. "They attacked your people, killed them even, and someone you cared for besides even that. Of course you want revenge, to make them pay for what they took from you."

"But that's not what I am looking for, Gnarl." He said quietly, looking over his shoulder at him on the stool. "I don't want revenge, even as messed up as that would be. I don't want to make them pay. I want to enjoy finding them, beating them, and watching the life leave their bodies. And that isn't me! I am not like that, I've never been like that!"

"You mean you weren't." The creature said simply with a shrug. "You had not done much of what you've done now back then, not the least of which is using ancient magic and dying. I suspect a few character quirks are reasonable to expect after being smeared against a canyon floor like so much raspberry jam."

"Is there a way to stop the Gauntlet doing that to me?" He already knew the answer, he was sure, but he needed to ask. Needed to hear what Gnarl had to say, if nothing else, because only Gnarl was in a position to know. "And be frank with me, Gnarl. I'm not in the mood to play around."

"Only removing the Gauntlet, which would kill you once again, as far as I am aware." Gnarl answered quietly, watching his Overlord's shoulders stiffen at the news. "If I may, Master, just because you have changed doesn't mean you must change further going forward in your rule."

"I feel like you'd want me changing like this, Gnarl." He cut back, almost snarling through clenched teeth before he caught himself, sucking in a breath and blowing it out through his nose to calm himself. "Why would you try and help me stay as what you don't like? It makes no sense to me."

"I exist to serve, Master." He shrugged simply, smiling a toothy smile that he was sure was meant to be comforting or friendly. "I have said a thousand and one times, I feel, that I would love you to become a ravaging warlord warring across this pathetic world. But if that is not the kind of Overlord you wish to be, my job is to prevent that."

"Devoted, aren't you?" He joked, the Minion shrugging noncommittally. "I want you to start searching for your records in earnest. Once the camp is up and running, start taking Lien out to fund a search for anything left of your library. And anything you can study to replace whatever is completely gone."

"As you wish, my Master." He bowed his head on the stool, asking after a second. "My I ask to what end you wish me looking? Magic for offence perhaps, or the other Minion hives, or maybe enchantment runes?"

"There is no end, I want to know about the Overlord's past. The title and the people, and in detail. I intend to order an addition to the Dark Tower which will serve as a great library of this information." Turning to the Minion fully, he looked down on him and added, "Knowledge is power, after all, and I want it."

"Oh, Master, I knew you would come around. Like an evil, blonde, undead boomerang of sorts." Standing, the small creature hesitated for a moment before smiling and saying, "By the way, Master, Mistress Ruby has elected to have the venison steaks with diced roots and peppermint berry juice for breakfast this morning."

He waited until the Minion had departed in full before smiling slightly and pumping a fist in front of his chest, "Yes! I love peppermint berry juice..."

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An hour later, the group emerged from the spider-cave into the bright forest around Beacon Academy, looking around as they spread out in front of it and Jaune spoke, "You three return to Beacon on your own, and stay hidden for now. Ruby and I will follow in a couple minutes and go speak to the Headmaster and sort everything out, so don't worry about that."

"You're not gonna… Try anything, are you?" Yang asked, glancing to Tai Yang and adding, "Pops, gonna stay and watch the teenagers? Make sure no one touches anything too pink for our liking?"

"Y-Yang!" Ruby squeaked, fisting her skirts against her hips and flushing as bright as her cloak. "W-We just kissed, for Oum's sake, we're not… Like that! Gods, you're the worst. Just, ugh… At least you have faith in me and Jaune, Daddy."

"Yeah, gonna stay and watch 'em." Tai grinned as Ruby flushed, looking almost like steam would erupt out of her ears at any moment, and the others chuckled at her and everything else. Grinning, he added. "Like. A. Hawk."

"How 'bout a dusty old crow instead?" A voice called, Jaune's halberd snapping around towards it as everyone else reached for their weapons as well. Aside, he noted, from Tai Yang, Yang and Ruby, who looked disbelieving and angry, surprised, and absolutely ecstatic in order. "Hey, hey, no one stab me or anything. Or, you know, whatever you plan to do with that axe from all the way over there."

"Light you on fire." He answered, the swaggering man's eyebrows raising in response where he leaned against a tree Jaune knew he hadn't been at a few minutes ago thanks to his Minions. His hands raised, the man stepped away from it meaningfully and Jaune asked, "Who are you?"

"He's my Uncle Qrow!" Ruby crowed, taking two long steps towards him before her father could get a hand around her arm, tugging her back to his side. The act made Jaune nervous and so he stepped between her and the 'Qrow' warily, his axe held between himself and the man while Ruby asked, "Guys, what's up? Daddy?"

"What do you want, Qrow?" The aged blonde asked instead, raising an eyebrow while Ruby looked between the two men. "Or is this about Ozpin?"

"He wants to talk to the Overlord." Jaune stiffened at the using of his supposed name as the title it was, and the distasteful inflection behind it. Qrow must have caught it, somehow, and smirked, "Yeah, he knows what you are. But since you saved my niece, and haven't burned down a damn Kingdom or somethin', I ain't here to hurt you. Oz just wants a word with you, all by yourself in private, that's all."

"No." To his surprise it was Ruby, tone sharp enough that when she yanked free of Tai Yang's grip the man didn't try and grab her again. Moving to Jaune's side and laying a hand on her hip, closer to Crescent Rose than he'd expected her to go, she added, "I go where he goes, or we… Or we fight, and I don't want that Uncle Qrow."

"Then let 'im go… Why are you so defensive over him?" The man tried, looking between her and Jaune, and then grimacing as his eyes landed on the Gauntlet. "Magic, of fuckin' course… Whatever you've done to my niece-"

"All he did was save my life, Uncle Qrow. And I have a job now, in the Tower. Headmaster Ozpin has to know about it if he knows about the Overlord." Qrow frowned and, taking that as an answer, she went on. "We'll talk to him if my- If the Overlord wants to, knowing that he had someone waiting for us, but if a fight starts I won't let you hurt him just for what he is when he hasn't done anything to anyone."

"Fuck me sideways…" Yang sighed, joining Jaune on his other side and crossing her arms under her bust, "I will too, Uncle. Ruby's fight is my fight, I just look after her and for answers 'bout some shit, but you know all 'bout that. Know why I do what I do."

Jaune wasn't sure what that meant, and a glance told him that Ruby didn't either. Something between Qrow and Yang then, unless Tai had a reaction that could have told him something. But that would require turning his back on the man in front of him, which reeked of a bad idea.

And… Alcohol.

"He's not a bad guy, even if he stole my daughter's first kiss." Qrow's brow raised and his head tilted, pointing between Yang and Ruby with a finger, and Tai sighed. "The short one, Qrow. Yang probably kisses people a lot more than you wanna think about."

"He's right, I do." The woman next to him admitted, Jaune giving her a glance. She raised her brow and winked at him, but didn't say anything to him. Instead she spoke to Qrow on his behalf, "But from what Rubes has told me, that was her idea. She literally asked for it, so… I guess I have to be okay with that."

"Can I at least castrate him?" The man slurred slightly, fishing out a small silver flask with the same hand he'd pointed with a moment prior, explaining the smell of alcohol Jaune was getting. "Just, you know, to be safe?"

"Maybe later." Tai offered, a hand settling on his shoulder warningly. "I mean, it's not like he'll need it with my precious little gem, right?"

"Are you two seriously doing the threatening dad routine now?" Weiss groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose behind them and shaking her head. "You're having a stand off right now, you… Freaking psychopaths."

"And no one is cutting off bits of my-my…" Ruby froze, a finger raised and flushing beet red. "Him. My him. No one is cutting my him." His arms fell, haft resting on the ground, and Ruby patted his arm. "This is my him and, uh, yeah, no one is cutting up my… My him."

"You are so bad at this…"

"Oh hush, Blake. You're wearing your ribbons still so criticizing other people being silly is kind of hypocritical." Weiss cut in, Jaune sighing and shaking his head tiredly. "Not that your ribbon really hides anything."

"Wait, what's up with Blake's ribbon? Ruby asked, turning to look at the woman with wide, wondering eyes and a cute tilt of her head. "It looks normal to me, at least… What's up about it, Weiss?"

"Oh dear Oum…"

"Can we just… Get back on the important thing?" Qrow finally interrupted with a tired, but seemingly unsurprised somehow, looking between Ruby and Jaune. Sighing again, somewhat dramatically this time, he spoke to them and Tai all, waving a hand as he turned, "Fine. Whatever. Tai, Ruby and tall, dark and evil, you all come with me. Everyone else go do whatever you want, I don't care."

"Can we trust him not to try anything?" Jaune asked, turning to look over his shoulder at Tai Yang.

"Qrow? Yes. Especially if hurting you means hurting her." He nodded at Ruby, who backed it with her own nod and a small smile. "Ozpin? He'll do whatever he thinks is best, even if it isn't. I have your back though, and if he tries anything that would hurt you or Ruby, he'll only succeed over my corpse."

"Hopefully not…" He nodded though, thinking for a moment before turning back to Qrow, the man leaning against that same tree and waiting patiently on him. Smiling wickedly behind his metal mask, he said, "As a show of good faith, I'm leaving my axe behind. I hope that makes you and the headmaster feel better about me, with everything else on top of it especially."

"Yeah?" The man watched him invert the axe, planting it in the soil and sending an unspoken command for his Minions to move it into the cave when they had left. Seeming somewhat impressed, he nodded and said, "Yeah, actually, kinda does makes me feel better. A bit, at least."

"I'm not an enemy, Sir." He said simply, leaving the unspoken 'at least not yet' that had sprung to mind. Waving his normal hand, he added, "Please, lead the way for all of us. I'm unarmed and will come along peacefully."

And if they tried anything, he'd grab Tai and Ruby and use the axe to teleport to safety. Then he'd send Minions to warn the others and bring them back to the Tower, where they'd be safer than with his enemies. And get to wear those leather trousers again, which Jaune would be lying if he said didn't give a great view.

What? He was an evil, undead lord of magical gremlins with magical powers, a dark monolithic home, and a frozen hellscape that his 'people' managed to eke out a living for themselves and him both in. He still looked at girls, particularly when they weren't paying enough attention to stab him for it.

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	22. Chapter 22

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"I-I thought the Headmaster's office was, you know…" He and Qrow both turned to look at Ruby, the girl smiling sheepishly and pointing upwards as the elevator began to very distinctly descend. Eyes shockingly narrow, she added in a low voice with a hand reaching for where Crescent Rose would normally sit and stopping halfway when she recalled the empty air that was there now. "Uncle Qrow… What's going on?"

"Nothin' shady, I swear." He drawled, sparing the more armored man a glance and then grimacing at whatever he saw that upset him. Probably him, judging from how things had gone so far. "Well, aside from your 'Him', the hell that actually means, ain't nothin' shady goin' on here that you need to worry about. Tai, did you know about this?"

"Not a bit." The man growled, arms crossed and leaning against the back of the elevator with his eyes shut and shoulders scrunched. "Rest assured, I will be tanning Ruby's hide and breaking his arms for it later."

"No you aren't, Dad." Ruby said firmly, turning to look at him and, after he cracked an open open, stammering a, "P-Please don't hurt him?"

"I'll think about it." The man sighed, smirking down at his daughter and raising an eyebrow over closed eyes teasingly. "But you are getting bent over my knee, young lady. And getting grounded, if I can figure that out with the whole.. Trans-continental teleporting shrine thing he has going on."

"Teleportation between continents?" Qrow looked over his hunched shoulder at him, standing beside Ruby with her conveniently between him and the mildly irate blonde that was her father, and raised an eyebrow. "That seems kind of useful to hog all to your lonesome, don't it? Could do a hell of a lot of good with it, but I guess that's not your thing, eh?"

"He's baiting you, Master." Gnarl pointed out gravely, the whispers tickling inside his head quietly like they always did. "He's testing you to see what you'll say or do. I would recommend simply holding your tongue and biding your time. He can't react if you don't give him anything to-"

"The Shrine-Network is broken up too much, most of the Shrines are buried or destroyed, so they aren't all that helpful. Even if I wanted to use it to help people, I… Can't." He raised the Gauntlet to display it and then let it drop, sighing tiredly both for effect and because of his own resigned frustration. "You need the Gauntlet, or something linked to it or to the Tower, to use them even when they're working. So even once I get them all fixed, or replaced, or whatever…"

"Or just spill the beans right away, like a particularly weak willed prisoner, with no bother put to gaining something first. Yes. Wonderful plan, Master." Gnarl sighed, and Jaune ignored him entirely as he rambled his various complaints quietly in Jaune's head. Low enough he could easily ignore them.

"So you would have to make some kinda way to let other people use it. Assumin' you wanted to, anyways..." Qrow observed sharply, the helmed Overlord nodding simply at the first statement and ignoring the barbed second one. Nothing he said could help anyways, so no point in even trying. "But to answer your question, Nice mine, we're headed to meet Oz. But not up in his office, we have… A better place for these kinds of meetings. Somewhere students aren't allowed to be."

"Oh… That sounds… Neat." She gave him a look and he turned after a brief meeting of their eyes through his visor, staring ahead at the front of the elevator quietly. "Yeah… Neat. Not like a terrible, mean, nasty trap or anything like that. No way, heh heh."

"Hey, this ain't like that, kiddo." Qrow sounded short, snappish and offended even, at the implication and hmphed to even further show it. "Oz ain't the bad guy, he's the good one. Your evil little friend here's comin' in to talk, Oz wouldn't set some trap. 'Specially not if it puts you in danger, he doesn't do that, tossin' lives away for nothin'."

"Gonna say that right in front of me?" Tai snapped, voice strained and taught. Jaune turned, but didn't need to to feel Qrow stiffen and hear him shift anxiously. The other man didn't say anything, though, and Tai grunted meaningfully. "That's what I thought, Qrow. That's exactly what I thought."

"What are you two talking about…?" Ruby asked, and neither man answered as the elevator painfully slowly descended. Finally it shuddered to a stop, and Ruby sighed, "Nevermind, I guess I'll… find out in a bit."

The doors opened straight into a moderately large room, with thick carpeting, warming red painted walls lined on the right by bookshelves full of old looking scrolls and thick books, and paintings covering most of the other wall intermittently. Six suits of ancient armor, plated knights, simple mail shirts with weathered looking leather sleeve closings and even tattered robes sat on numerous armor stands between the paintings. Most of them seemed to be in the paintings as well, depicting numerous regal looking men wearing each item in turn. Other, lesser seeming paintings also surrounded the armor and outfits, but nothing important seemed to be in them. Just oil paintings of houses, small castle looking things, and a hilly stretch of land covered in trees. The back wall was empty save for a large desk covered in books and papers, with a comfortable looking leather chair slid into place in front of it, and a heavy wooden door set into the corner.

And in the center of the room, with Ozpin at its head in one of the simple wooden dining tables, sat a long dining table of sorts with six chairs to either side. The table itself was bare completely, save for a dark red table-cloth hanging just a bit off the edges of the table. Qrow wasted no time pushing past him and taking a seat at Ozpin's right, leaving the trio standing just inside from the elevator somewhat awkwardly.

"Ah, Miss Rose. It's… Well, I'm happy to see you alive and unharmed." The man sounded pleasant, but in an airy and tired kind of way. He spared Jaune's armored form a glance and frowned heavily for a split instance before he schooled his features into a pleasant, fake smile. "Even if your… Companion isn't quite someone I'm happy to see, I can at least offer him thanks for helping you return where you belong."

"I'm just fine-"

"Save it, Ruby." Tai cut her off, resting a hand on her shoulder heavily and nudging her forward. "Whatever you have to say won't change his mind yet, so just sit on down. You too, Overlord, so we can figure whatever the hell this all is out."

"Ah, Tai Yang Xiao Long. It's… Well, good to see you in good health, at least. Even if circumstances aren't quite what I'd prefer." This smile was force, too. Stiff and anxious, with the man's hands folded on the table in front of him and a thumb bouncing off the table anxiously. "It's been quite some time since you were in here… I'm glad to have you back, regardless of the situation at hand and past tragedies."

"Yep." The man pulled out two chairs, letting Ruby take the first and sitting between her and Qrow on the right side while he sat across from the young woman. Crossing his arms and glaring almost hatefully at the silver-haired man, Tai asked, "Why don't you tell us about those 'tragedies' then? Since you dragged my youngest daughter here with her boyfriend, I mean, and she's very involved in them."

"I…" The old man glanced to Ruby, confused and pretending not to be embarrassed over her father referring to him as 'boyfriend', and then smiled that fake smile again. "Tai Yang, that is not the point of this meeting."

"Yes it is, now talk or we leave." The blonde said simply, raising both eyebrows and smiling stiffly in return. "Unless you plan on trying to stop us, of course. Which would be an interesting thing to try for a 'good guy'."

"Tai, that isn't what he-"

"Fine." Ozpin interrupted tiredly, pursing his lips and then shaking his head, leaning back against his chair and sighing tiredly. "Ruby, when we first met that night you fought Torchwick, do you remember what I said to you? The very first thing I said, I mean, before anything else."

"You…" She paused to think and try to remember, which was probably more than reasonable given the mountain of things she'd been through in the last few months. "You asked about my eyes?"

"Silver eyes are an important thing, Ruby, for someone in my… Situation, as it were." Ozpin said simply, sparing Jaune a glance and grimacing. Apparently he did not like Jaune being there, but he simply crossed his arms and sat silently to make his mind clear. Continuing with a small frown, the man said, "Silver Eyes grant certain… Advantages, in combating the Grimm. I only know for fact of a few wielders of these eyes, so I hope you'll understand my information is limited beyond that it can slay a swathe of Grimm over a moderately large area, and exhausts them nearly entirely. Hazel Tin, almost a hundred years ago, is the first I know of. Then the Grimm Reaper, you yourself, and… And your mother, Summer Rose. The only one I have had the pleasure of speaking to in this life, I assure you."

"So he recruited her to his 'cause', way he said it not me." Tai interrupted, Ruby turning to look up at him in confusion. "Private missions, high risk usually, to test the Silver Eyes and how they worked. What they could do, their limits, but she always had backup from someone close to her. Someone closer than anyone else, who she trusted more than anyone else on Remnant."

"Tai." Qrow's voice was low, the name barked more than actually said and his hands curled into fists so tight Jaune could swear he heard his bones creaking in protest. Ruby jumped at the sound, looking at the man in surprise, and his face softened. "We talked about this, Tai. I'm not… I didn't get Summer killed, you know we didn't understand my Semblance well enough yet."

"Yeah, well, you didn't exactly help, did you?"

"I damn near lost an arm in that fight!" Qrow snapped, standing so suddenly his chair nearly fell to the floor behind him, if not for Ozpin's deft hand reaching out with his cane to grab it. "There were… Damn near a hundred of them! I did all I could, Tai, and you know damn well that I would have-"

"Someone please tell me what the hell actually happened!" Ruby shouted suddenly, slamming a palm down on the wood with a resounding smack. Her eyes were scrunched shut, shoulders heaving, and Jaune half-stood to go to her when her eyes opened again, smiling weakly at him to reassure him and then speaking again more quietly. "Please, just… What happened?"

"I sent her out to test her eyes, with Qrow for reinforcements and Glynda in a Bullhead with myself and your father, against a horde of Grimm in the Grimmlands between Valean and Vacuoan territory." Ozpin said simply, giving Qrow an apologetic glance as he returned to his seat and stared down at the table. "Unfortunately, scouting reports were… Inaccurate, and more Grimm were present than we believed. Enough that Qrow and your mother were… Separated, in the fighting. And our Bullhead suffered a temporary, but critical, loss of power through its engine systems. So we could not intervene when Qrow was forced to the ground and your mother used her eyes to save him."

"Which left her exhausted and barely able to move after, like always, even though it wiped out hundreds of Grimm." Tai filled in quietly, giving his daughter a careful and sidelong glance. "When the Grimm slammed back on them both… Qrow could fight, she couldn't, and he couldn't get to her in time."

"The rest of the story you…" Ozpin sighed tiredly, and for once seemed to age and show a kind of sorrow Jaune hadn't seen yet. His eyes and voice both softened, his smile turned hard and bitter, and his thumb stopped bouncing. "Well, you know the rest. By the time we fought to her, there was little to nothing left and… I know it's late, but I don't think I ever offered you condolences, Miss Rose."

"T-Thank you, Headmaster, I-I…" Staring at the table throughout the story, Ruby's eyes scrunched at the kind words at the end of it and her own voice cracking, a single tear breaking through her emotional wall and slipping halfway down her cheek before she caught it on a hand and wiped it away. "I'm okay now, I just… I-It's not your fault, Uncle Qrow, it was… It wasn't your fault."

Not Qrow's fault, he noted, and saw Ozpin's frown deepened slightly in a way that showed he'd caught it too.

"Ruby." Jaune said quietly in an effort to at least try and help her somehow, though he had no idea how in a room full of people, silver eyes snapping to his mask instantly. Like his words alone were anchoring to her, and that filled him with a terrified kind of exhilaration he wasn't used to. "Are you okay? We can leave if you want to."

"N-No." She dabbed at her eyes with her sleeves a few times, while he and Ozpin met eyes for a brief moment, and the small woman sucked in a breath. "I-I'm okay, J- Overlord. They, uh, they never told me what happened. A-And I see why, and… I'm okay, and this is, you know, important."

"Is that the whole story, Tai? Is there anything else that you want Ozpin to tell Ruby now that she's involved in all this?" He asked quietly, looking at the other blonde and getting a curt nod in answer. Turning to Ozpin, and pushing Ruby's problems to the back of his mind so he could deal with it later in private, he asked, "So, why am I here, Ozpin?"

"Why do you think I wanted you here, to speak with me?" Ozpin asked after a second of thought, and a glance to Ruby who met his own gaze with a surprisingly hard one of her own.

One that may have been weakened somewhat by the slight flush in her cheeks from her emotion and the slight watery look in her eyes, tears still threatening to break the dam there. But he would not be the one to say that, lest she descend upon him with tiny fists of fury, or worse go for her spoon.

"You obviously already know about me by title if nothing else, and you must have known about the Portal-Shrine buried under Beacon as well. Since you had someone waiting on us, I mean." He answered simply, waving a hand around himself to gesture at the room around him after a second to wait and see if he'd have anything to say about that. "Qrow also implied this was somewhere special, not where you'd normally meet with people. Added to the fact you only wanted me here, not Tai or Ruby, I'd want to ask you why you wanted me all alone behind closed doors like this?"

"You're right that I… Know of your title, and what it means, Overlord." Jaune was sure he'd not meant to, but the name carried with it a certain venom when the man said it. Enough that Jaune tensed slightly and his eyes narrowed on the man, Mana unconsciously pooling in his Gauntlet in case it was needed. "I know enough to cause me to be very concerned by your… Influences, on Remnant and the people living on it."

"And what 'influences' are you talking about?" He asked coyly, gesturing with his Gauntlet at the man and asking, "Specifically, what about what I am doing bothers you, I mean? There has to be a few examples, right?"

"Everything I know of leads me to believe that your… Kind of people, for a lack of a better term, are evil and domineering utterly." He shrugged, as though that simple statement explained what he meant and he was hit with a strange sense of deja vu he couldn't place. "I have records of hundreds of 'Overlords' in history, and none have been, shall we say… Good people in any real respect."

"He has records, master! Perhaps he has my missing tomes and scrolls? I can have the Minions-"

"I didn't ask about other Overlords. And I don't care, right now at least, what records you have about past Overlords and their knowledge." Jaune pointed out simply, smiling behind his helmet as Gnarl cut off understandingly. "I asked about me, Ozpin. Or does the Headmaster of Beacon Academy regularly paint entire groups of people with the same brush based on what they are?"

"Clever…" Ozpin complimented quietly, smirking almost like he was enjoying playing a game of some kind. "No, I do not. Unless of course their entire being, as a species, is predicated on evil, cruelty and domination. The Grimm, for instance."

"If that is what I am, then surely you have examples of that?" Him luring the Grimm to the work camp sprang to mind, but that was his first action as Overlord, so there was no way Ozpin could know about it even if it did eat him up inside. When ozpin didn't answer, he asked, "Wait, your opinions about me are based on me, right?"

"There has not been a single example of a good evil Overlord." Ozpin pointed out simply, shrugging noncommittally. "You can play word games about it, and toss veiled little insults, but in my experience, basing your decisions on anything but what you know gets people killed. Ruby's mother knows that well enough, as, I can assure you, do many others."

She and Tai stiffened at the line and Jaune growled before he could catch himself, a low sound in the back of his throat. Like a weak snarl, and something he hadn't even thought before making. More influence from the Gauntlet, he was sure, and something that Ozpin noted with a small and knowing smirk that let him know the mistake that really was. One of Qrow's arms fell by his side, dangling close to where he knew the man's weapon was from when they'd been walking in the forest, and Jaune met his warning gaze flatly.

"What is better? To be good by nature, or overcome your evil nature through hard work to become good?" A video-game quote from a few years back, but he didn't guess that anyone but Ruby - who grinned slightly at the line before she could catch herself - had apparently played the game and knew it. "Even if you're right, and being the Overlord makes one evil incarnate by nature, that isn't what I am. If I were, you would be able to show me being evil the way you say I am. If you can't, then you have no evidence that I am."

A minute of silence passed before Qrow finally spoke, surprisingly enough, "He, uh, he's… Got a point, Oz. You have somethin' on him, right?"

"All I have done is help people." He said quickly, before Ozpin could say anything. "I've been protecting, up until recently thanks to the White Fang and I have proof of that before you say anything, a working camp of stonecutters Atlas ignored. I saved Tai and Ruby, even though both were out of the way and one of those almost cost me my life. Would someone evil do that?"

"If you thought it would advantage you somehow, then yes."

"He was a half-dead, no offense Tai, stranger out in the woods." The man waved off the slightly dismissive words with a wave, and Jaune moved on, gesturing at Ruby with a wave of her hand. "And she was and is just… A teenager. What could I possibly have stood to gain from getting shot to pieces and fighting Grimm for them?"

"I... " He sighed and deflated, shaking his silver head almost sadly somehow, "I don't know. But that doesn't mean there wasn't something for you to gain, it only means I don't know of it right now."

"So now I have to prove my innocence?" Jaune scoffed, shaking his helmeted head and looking to at Ruby. "Can you believe this? This is ridiculous."

"Take off your helmet." She said quietly, glancing to Ozpin for a second to gauge his reaction. Jaune did the same, watching the man's brows furrow and shoulders tighten, curious and afraid somehow at the same time. "We want him to trust us, and… And that means you have to trust him first, even if he is in the wrong here," she gave the man a sour look, as much as her face could do sour, "you still have to bridge the gap. Since he won't, I mean."

"Master, I don't think that's a good- Oh, you're doing it anyway. Joy. I'll just be quiet."

Quietly, his hands went under his helmet to undo the holding straps while Ozpin watched curiously. Lifting the helmet, he ran a hand through the blonde locks there and laid the metal helmet on the table in front of him. Air rushed over his head soothingly, and he turned to Ozpin and asked, "So?"

"Oh my…" Ozpin's lips pursed for a moment, head shaking side-to-side slowly, and then he let out a short and low chuckle. "I thought you tragically deceased at Initiation, Mister Arc. Good to see you alive and well."

"I was dead." Jaune said simply, raising his Gauntlet so that the gem there gleam a meaningful menace. "This brought me back to life, and now it's all mine to use. I gave my life on the chance of being a Huntsman and protecting people. Being a hero. So can we not pretend I'm some evil megalomaniac?"

"Fair points, and a fair request." The man relaxed, smiling more pleasantly in another of those oddly familiar gestures that had been tickling the back of his mind the entire time, and asked simply, "Would you mind… Bringing me up to speed, then, on what's happened with you? After that we'll… Well, I suppose we'll see."

And if what he saw wasn't to his liking, Jaune always had his 'Get out of Beacon Free' card attached at his elbow.

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"You know, you could just eat in the cafeteria." Yang pointed out, knocking the door to the RWBY dorm shut with a hip and carrying two food laden trays with her like a waitress. She gave Jaune a glance, all black armor, fur a hunched over in the chair like a gargoyle, and grimaced. "Okay, maybe you can't, given the whole… Legally dead thing, and whatever. But you can, Sis!"

"Then Jaune would be all by himself for lunch, and have nothing to do, and that would suck, so… Nah." She defended easily, setting her comic pages down and open on her swaying bunk while Yang handed up her tray. "Oh! Chicken and cheese, awesome!"

"Plus, once I told Ozpin my story, he just… Nodded and asked us to wait while he took care of some 'business'. And that was… Hours ago." Jaune added, taking the grilled cheese from the tray before Yang had even plopped it down and biting a chunk out of it. "But worst comes to worst, I have my secret weapon."

"So we just…" She waved a hand at him, grimacing lightly and raising an eyebrow, "Grab on somewhere, yeah?"

"Grab on, press close, and hold your mouth shut." He nodded, curling and uncurling his armored fist a finger at a time idly. "It'll take us right to my axe, and then I have a small army ready to protect us and get us to the Tower. Where I have… A significantly larger army waiting to do more of the protecting. Where are the other two, by the way? This doesn't really work if they aren't here to teleport too. And I can't get to them."

"Out at the library, but s'fine." She sighed, plopping onto one of the bottom bunks with a sigh and holding up her Scroll. "Got a message waitin' to send, saved and all, to 'em. Just in case something-"

"Miss Xiao Long, open this door, my hands are full and I can not knock." The voice was high, stressed and oddly familiar. The other blonde hopped off the bed, pulling the door open just enough to see outside, and got halfway through an excuse not to open it all the way when she said the next thing, "Oh hush, I already know everything. Let me in, young lady, I am already tired of carrying this blasted paperwork. And shut the blasted door behind me, Gods know I cannot."

"Oh, uh…" She hesitated a second and then sighed, stepping back and pulling the door open as she went. "Come on in, Miss G. Don't, uh, mind the mess."

"I never do, teenagers are eternally the messiest creatures on Remnant short of swine and single, thirty year old men." Hard eyes landed on Jaune, the blonde's blue meeting bright green for a second before she glanced him up and down and smiled, Yang pushing the door shut behind her before she spoke. "Situations not withstanding, I am… Elated to see you alive, Mister Arc."

"It's, uh, good to-"

"And infuriated with you for falsifying your way into Beacon, and dying on my watch. Not to mention all this blasted paperwork the Headmaster has had me running for you." She cut him off snappishly, dropping a stack of folders half a foot tall on the desk beside his half-eaten tray of food. Pushing aside folders as she pointed them out, she rattled off, "New registration, new identification, a falsified history of Huntsman activities contracted directly by Beacon and the Headmaster himself along the Atlesian frontier. There's also account numbers, one of the Headmaster's own from… A past best left alone, which is now yours and lined with Lien to sell the lie."

"Sell the- What lie?" He gave Ruby a look, confused, and then looked back up at the buxom woman. "What's going on?"

"You are a new man, quite literally, Mister Arc." She flipped open the last folder, inside which sat a full array of identification materials. Passports, a birth certificate from Atlas with tags for a frontier birth to excuse the lack of records, and a Valean and Atlesian ID set along with it. "John Overlord, of Atlas. Licensed Huntsman on contract by Beacon, who happens to have bought out your pre-existing contract from the Atlesian military."

"Why?" Nothing came for free, he knew that damn well by now, running a finger over the heavily edited and greyed picture of himself - that he had no idea how the Headmaster had gotten - with amazement.

"The Headmaster has powerful friends, Mister Arc. You now count among them." She held out a small card, half the size of a Lien-Credit card and slightly longer with the numbers '875' on the side. "Your room, staff can show you to it. Do keep a low profile while paperwork is processed completely, which should take a couple but no more. The Headmaster wants you for dinner at nine o'clock tonight, you're involved in much more than you bargained for."

"I'll be there." He promised with a small nod and a not so small smile. "How do I get there…?"

"The same elevator you used precious. Just swipe the card and it will unlock the lower floors. I shall see you then." Turning, the woman hesitated and scowled, raising a brow at Ruby and Yang where they stood silent and stunned. "You two should know that bunk-beds are not allowed on the premises. If anyone else on staff sees and reports them, you will both serve detention with me. Missing persons cases will not help you either, Miss Rose."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Both answered sharply, almost like cadets being scolded in the old war movies his cousin always watched.

"I like this one." Gnarl murmured in his ear boredly. "She knows how to get things done, and I find women who- Is that a blasted riding crop?! Is that her weapon?! What in the name of Evil does she do with that?!"

Jaune watched her leave and sighed tiredly, picking up the remaining half of his grilled cheese and taking a slow bite of it. "Don't know what she does with it, Gnarl. Just hope to Evil I never see the wrong end of it."

"Talking to yourself is weird…" Yang pointed out after a second, the other blonde groaning and looking to the ceiling pleadingly for help.

"He can talk to Gnarl." Ruby stage-whispered, pointing at his Gauntlet meaningfully while Yang made an 'O' of understanding.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	23. Chapter 23

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"So, I guess we should start… Something." Jaune said after a few long seconds of silence, sitting on the floor in RWBY's dorm with his back against the wall between the two very rickety looking bunk beds they'd made. For once he hadn't donned armor, instead wearing a pair of black pants and a simple white button-up that Miss Goodwitch had provided so he'd be more comfortable. Though he kept his axe beside him, leaning against the wall. "Where should we start? Anyone have any ideas?"

"I would start with the Headmaster and his connection to these… Maidens." Weiss said, sitting on a chair with the back against the door in case someone unwanted tried to intrude on their private meeting. Again. "Mister Xiao Long wasn't very detailed in Ozpin's connection to them, beyond him being… Somehow related to the wizard that made them. But I don't know if that magical insanity is related to, this," she waved a dainty hand at him, folding her arms over her chest and crossing her legs primly in the same motion, "magical insanity."

"Jaune?" Ruby asked quietly, sitting on the bunk below her own and swinging her legs boredly.

"I don't know, I…" He raised the Gauntlet, holding the gem out like a speaker, and asked, "Gnarl, can you… Talk through this? Like, at all? You'd be very helpful so-"

"Open the damn window, you daft, scraggly excuse of an evil Overlord of unrelenting darkness and cruelty!" He blinked, but stood and did as he was told, glancing around cautiously and leaning out when he saw no one was there, the students probably still in the classes his new friends had been excused from entirely. Looking down, blue eyes met yellow and the Minion, clinging desperately to the wall, grunted in a low whisper that he had to strain to hear over the birds and wind outside, "H-Hello, Master! How are you?"

"Gnarl, how did you-"

"Because I am just fine, having snuck through the forest, then this school absolutely full of trained monster killers, and then clambered up onto this rather small ledge." The Head Minion, trembling slightly, looked up at him with a small smile and far too politely for Gnarl to ever have normally asked it, said, "Please, Master, would you pull me up? Preferably before I do my best imitation of, well, you before your ascension to Overlordhood."

"Fine, fine." His armored hand reached down, grabbing the Head Minion by the back of his leathery jerkin under the ragged cloth he wore and pulling him up. Turning with the little creature held like a cat, hands even curled together anxiously, he held it out and smiled. "Found a Gnarl outside, so… That's useful, I guess."

"How though?" Blake finally asked, sitting on the bed opposite Ruby with her feet holding down Yang's to serve as a prop while the blonde did her sit-ups. Arms crossed, the raven-haired woman looked between the creature and Jaune himself and asked, "How did you even get him here?"

"I didn't, he just… Decided to come." He dropped the Minion and returned to his seat, the creature standing up from where he'd landed in a ball of tangled limbs, and Jaune waved a hand at him. "Apparently he snuck in and climbed up the wall outside, hopefully without being spotted. Somehow. Magically. Even though he's not a Green and they are supposed to be the sneakers."

"I snuck through the woods with a small escort watching for Grimm, then waited until classes started to sneak onto campus." Gnarl explained simply, shrugging his tiny little shoulders and moving to stand in front of Ruby, holding his hands up like a child asking to be picked up. When she did, he sat beside her on the bed and went on, "Then I waited until classes started and snuck through the hedges, tracking your Mana to find you, Master. All rather mundane, and unlike some I don't fail at mundane things."

"What do you-"

"How in the name of all Evil did you manage to cock up activating the damn Shrine!?" He somehow whispered and shrieked at the same time, tiny face tinting a dark color that Jaune assumed meant he was flushing. Like an old man who'd been angered. "A simple, routine run out to kill some monsters and activate the Shrine, and now you're embroiled in… Whatever the hells is happening with the old bastard up in his tower!"

"Feel better?"

"Actually, a little bit, yes." Gnarl actually nodded, smiling toothily as his flushed face faded and the Minion asked, "Now, I get the gist here. Magical girls, this guy's some kind of wizard or related to one or something, and he has at least some of our books, records and scrolls. Is there anything else new I am unaware of?"

"The Headmaster managed to make a whole list of false identification for Jaune, with a new name and a home in Atlas. He also had Jaune's Hunter contract with Atlas bought and transferred to Beacon instead. All done within a few hours, when the vast majority of that all takes time and meetings for at least a day and usually more." Weiss informed him breezily, rattling off the information like a woman born to business and taught little else.

Which he guessed she had been, until relatively recently when she started Huntress training, so…

"I know little beyond that, I'm afraid, your Overlordness. This man is powerful, in blood, money and likely politics as well, given everything he's seemingly done. Not to speak on the time he did it all in, itself apparently impossible beyond the greatest of men calling in favors and dropping money on it like a storm drops water." Gnarl spoke quietly, tapping a long finger against his chin as he thought. "Why would he act in such a manner, though? That is what I find curious."

"S'a powerplay." Yang suggested, still doing her sit-ups with her arms crossed over her chest and weights held in her hands, grunting as she rose and then fell. Her clothes, unlike the others dressed in school uniform, looked like normal enough gym attire made of black cloth that hugged her skin tightly and left much of her muscled form bare. Laying on the floor with her arms spread out to either side and her chest sucking in air, she explained, "You're big. You're bad. He wants to be the biggest bad, bigger than you, so he shows off. Rich boys drop Lien to show off for girls and other rich boys, people like me dress like this to show off and flex for the same reason, and the whole 'good to work out in' thing. And people like the Headmaster like to look… Influential and smart."

"In business negotiations, negotiators will often push to host events to show off their wealth in the same vein." Weiss added to bolster Yang's point, the blonde woman grinning and jerking her head towards her before beginning more sit-ups. Which drew an aggrieved sigh from the Schnee, "Must you do that while we talk, by the way? You're practically naked with those ridiculous shorts on, and we're having an important discussion."

"They're called spanks, Weiss-creme, and they make my ass look great." She pointed out teasingly, the room collectively groaning even if Jaune felt safe to say everyone agreed on that. "Plus, I have to stay in shape. You slack off once, you do it twice, and then you get mauled to death by an Ursa. Plus, helps me think. Extra plus, we all got excused from classes and you all decided to hold this meeting during my gym time. Enjoy the gun show, or bun show if that's your preference, but I gotta do what I gotta do."

"Ugh. Just… Whatever you like, Oaf." The more 'refined' woman waved a hand at her and made a disgusted face, but ignored the blonde pile of sweat and rippling muscle and turned to Jaune instead. "She has a point, however. It's possible that the Headmaster wants you under his thumb, for some reason I can't place. Which could be good or bad, depending on what precisely he wants your - or our, for that matter - help in."

"I disagree." Gnarl cut in, sitting up straighter and leaning forward like a child might to get into a conversation adults were having. "The Overlord puts people under his thumb, he doesn't exist under the thumbs of others. If this fool thinks he can put his Dark Lordship into his employ…"

"Bad Gnarl. Down boy." Jaune chided gently, though he found he agreed to a great extent. "I agree, though. I don't want to be under anyone's thumb. I don't like the idea on its face, but as hostile and judgemental as he was to me already… I like it even less."

"What if he does good things, though?" Blake asked, gesturing at him with a wave of a hand. "You would have been before you, well, died. And if you make clear your intentions to… Basically be a Huntsman, then I doubt he'd get in your way. Working for him, or with him, would probably only benefit that."

"And, much as I disdain it…" Gnarl grimaced, looking at the floor for a second and then sighing. "I would suggest trying to use this as a chance to gain back the stolen knowledge he has. Even a few of those books and scrolls could enhance your magical knowledge, my runic resources, and your weaponry in spades. Which, with enough knowledge, a simple shovel would conveniently be better than your axe is right now."

"I can't work on that and hunt the White Fang at the same time, but seeing as I think we're ata dead end on the Ozpin topic…" Jaune turned his head to look at Blake, raising an eyebrow, "Are you still okay with helping me deal with them?"

"As long as you keep your word about not just butchering them en masse…" She swallowed, clearly put off by the idea if not frightened outright, and finally nodded. "What do you need from me right now?"

"A lead, or a target." He said simply, leaning his elbows on his knees with his legs crossed and leaning towards her. "I need to know if there's anyone I could get my hands on and talk to to get information on the White Fang in Vale. Figure I start dealing with them and Ozpin should start favoring me not being an evil conqueror. If I do it right."

"I know a guy named Perinius, we used to work together." Blake offered after a few seconds of quiet thinking. "And I saw him working with Torchwick at the docks, weeks ago. I would know those glasses and that voice anywhere."

"Is he important?"

"No, but…" She shrugged, smiling awkwardly, and simply said, "Everyone likes him, so he tends to know things he shouldn't. And be a bit safer than most, too. Plus, he and I were decent enough friends, so… I might be able to get him to help us."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"We don't have to do this, you know... Right now." Ruby said quietly from under her scarlet hood once night had fallen, standing outside the RWBY dorm. Jaune wearing his comfortable clothes still but now with the addition of his mask and Ruby wearing her hood.

Which made for an odd combination that earned them both a few glances from passing students, along with the pockmarked scars scored along his arms from bullets and claws that he sometimes didn't even remember hitting him. Nothing terrible, just a few long and think pink lines on one arm, a few round ones with flared edges, and a trio of small claw marks on his right bicep. But enough to draw looks, which both bothered him and… Didn't.

That they stared at him like something weird bothered him, but he barely cared enough to think about it. What really bothered him was the whispering, students murmuring curiously as they passed. About him and Ruby both, and bothering her a lot more than it bothered him.

All the more reason to get to it, he supposed.

"Apparently, I have a team. It wouldn't do to keep them in the dark about me being alive and kicking. And I don't want Nora to keep anything from her friends, I know she doesn't like it." Which did kind of bother him, not that he'd dare let Gnarl hear that. The Minion did the 'disappointed mom' look far too well for anyone's good. "So let's… get this all over with, I guess."

"Okay. I'll, uh, send Nora the message." She brought her borrowed Scroll up and did just that, and Jaune felt the sudden spike in that sort of anxiety one experienced ahead of meeting people in less than ideal circumstances.

He hated it.

Half a minute later, the door suddenly flew open, the ginger-haired girl standing there in her pajamas and grinning maniacally, fists on her hips. "About time! It's been days since you said you'd come by!" Her hands shot out, grabbing both by their shirts and yanking them into the room, and she turned to smile at the two others in the room as the door closed behind them, "Guys! Guess who?"

"Ruby?" Pyrrha was the one to stand first, off her bed and wearing pajamas made of teh same cotton he felt in his mouth at the moment. She pulled the small woman into a gentle hug, smiling, and asked, "Where have you been? Everyone has heard so much about what happened, some thought you dead…"

"We didn't, though. We had faith that you were alright." The man on the bed pointed out, smiling pleasantly but watching Jaune and Nora, the woman bouncing on her heel excitedly and with little regard to what that looked like. "It explains why Nora was so excited and somehow upset at the same time, though, since she obviously knew about this."

"She knew, but that isn't what she was hiding that she knew about." Jaune said, checking to make sure the door was shut before reaching up and pulling his helmet off. Holding it in front of him and drumming his armored, pointed fingers on its side anxiously and forcing himself to smile, "Uh, hi guys? I'm alive… Whoo."

"Oh…" Pyrrha blinked, looking Jaune up and down once and then twice. Blinking a few more times, she nodded and said, "I see that. Someone, please catch me before I hit the floor."

"What do you me- Oh Dust!" The redhead started to collapse, eyes rolling closed, and Ruby squeaked as she struggled to hold up the larger woman and Nora joined her. Laying her on the bed, "Why did she pass out?!"

"Excitement and shock most likely." Ren said, pushing the two women apart and sitting on the bed beside the Mistralian champion. Laying a hand on her shoulder and closing his eyes, he said, "I'll calm her down. Jaune, sit and explain everything. Nora, by the door listening for guests."

They waited for Pyrrha to wake up, calmed by Ren's Semblance apparently enough that she wouldn't faint, and Jaune started explaining. He started with his own death and waking up, and moved all the way to the Maidens before finishing with, "And they're complicated too, and I don't know next to anything about them, so… Please don't ask. Figuring out my own magic is hard enough."

Nora's hand shot up, the girl sitting on the edge of the bed waving it like a kid in a classroom, and after a confused second Ren sighed and tiredly called, "Nora Valkyrie…"

"Can you fly?" She asked, bouncing on the bed while Ren wrapped an arm around her to try and steady her and prevent her literal bouncing out of her shirt. "Because if you can fly, that would be so awesome! Like, you could fly me up and drop me on Grimm like some kind of… Nora shaped interceptor missile! And then I could whack 'em!"

"...I can't fly." He held up his hand and, using a miniscule amount of Mana, made a small pop of air and said, "I can make explosions, a shield, and shoot fire with my axe. Oh, and teleport too, also with my axe."

"He's learning, though, so…" Ruby shrugged, sitting next to him where they'd been assigned, looking up at the trio on the single bed like unruly children being scolded. "Maybe he can learn to fly at some point? Or do something to kind of fly?"

"I mean…" He trailed off, hoping for Gnarl to - for once - interject with something useful. When he didn't, Jaune just shrugged and half-heartedly offered a, "Maybe?"

"Regardless of that, you have said that you wish to keep this a secret for now. For the good of yours… Minions." Pyrrha seemed to struggle with the word, but pushed past it primly and properly, smiling politely at him. "I suppose that means you won't be returning to class with us anytime soon?"

"Not until the White Fang are dealt with and it's safe for the Tower." Which might not happen inside the year, if it happened at all. Rooting out a terrorist organization was… Not going to be easy. "It's just not safe. For anyone involved with me. Including you guys. If the White Fang found out we were friends…"

"We'd be targets too." Nora said quietly, and surprisingly gravely for the normally bubbly girl. Calm now, and with a serious face, she asked, "You have team RWBY helping you out, right? So you are going to let us, too."

"What she means to say," Pyrrha cut in, resting a hand on Nora's gently, "is that we and they are the same. Your friends, and people who failed to protect you in Initiation." She smiled sadly, and Jaune felt something in the back of his head click and tug him in the same way it did when Ruby smiled that way, and she added, "My one failure… Something I hope for the honor to get to atone for as well."

"I…"

"We'd love to have you all." Ruby interrupted, giving Jaune a wide and innocent smile. "More hands, more friends, just means a safer and easier job. Plus. Nora doesn't do the word 'No' very well."

Sighing, Jaune threw up his hands in surrender and smiled, "Alright then, I guess. More the merrier."

"Are you sure you can't fly though?" Nora asked again, Jaune rolling his eyes and nodding. "Boring… But you have a castle, right?"

"It's more like a… Tower." Ruby corrected, smiling and seeming to truly relax for the first time. Suddenly sucking in air and swelling with excitement, she turned to Jaune with a grin as wide as any he'd ever seen her give and asked, "Can we make it a castle? Like, with walls, and a motte and bailey… Thing, whatever that is, it sounds castle-y. We could build houses and stuff too and have people over, and-"

"If you want to, we can have the Minions do it, yeah. I could even have Gnarl build a little workshop for you to work on Crescent Rose in… Maybe add some enchanted metal to the design." She squealed excitedly, bouncing where she was and leaning over to press rapid-fire kisses against his cheek.

Then she realized what she was doing, flushed, and sat on the floor straight-backed with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin on her knees. "I'd like that a lot, please…"

The other four couldn't fight the laughter, and that only seemed to cause her to flush even harder and hide her face behind her legs.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Miss Belladonna has requested a… Transport allowance to Vale tomorrow." Goodwitch reported, standing behind Ozpin while he watched the stars and Vale both twinkle in the distance. "And a private one at that. Apparently Mister Arc asked her to pose the request, so he could… Handle some business in town."

"Did she specify what kind of business?"

"No. Only that it was personal business, and to quote, 'Not something we wouldn't do ourselves.'" He heard her tone and could imagine the sarcastically raised brow and cocked hip even without looking. "Because that is such a nice, respectful way to assuage our fears, and I can't possibly think of a litany of reasons why we should prevent this."

Of course he wouldn't explain what he wanted to do, Jaune wouldn't want him knowing what he was up to so easily. Not right now, the young Overlord didn't trust him nearly enough to allow that. And the clarity of hindsight now told him that he shouldn't have been so open about his hostility to having an Overlord on the board once again. He'd unfortunately overplayed his hand in doing that, and now bringing the young man around to something more in line with what would be better for the world at large would be even harder than it otherwise would have been. And while he found the existence of an Overlord an uncomfortable thing…

Having him as an ally would be invaluable against the Grimm and, more importantly, Salem herself. And that meant he needed to mend the bridges he'd burned before he knew who he was actually dealing with.

"Give them permissions to use one, and make sure they have one free. We need him as our ally, so make it clear the effort on our end without making it terribly obvious that we're being ingratiating." He ordered, explaining before Glynda could even ask because he knew so well that she would. "And… Please send for Qrow and have him follow them. With strict orders not to intervene and to stay in avian form."

"Understood." Always respectful and trusting, and that brought a smile to his face. To have someone as kind and caring as her so devoted and trusting of him was… Nice. "Will that be all you need, Headmaster? I have arrangements to make."

"That will be all." He said quietly, watching the skyline and adding, "And good night, Miss Goodwitch. I think I'll retire early tonight and get a full night's rest. Perhaps even catch up on some of my reading."

"For once…" She grumbled, and he pretended not to hear. Instead, he nodded his head when she said, "Good night, Headmaster. I hope you rest well."

He wouldn't, he knew, because he had so much to process. The return of the Overlord and the Minions, that Ruby of all people would fall under his sway - for good or ill, he couldn't tell as of yet - and the revelation that Tai wouldn't just ignore his requests like Raven did. If he fought against Ruby and Jaune, then Tai Yang might directly combat him. And with him would likely go young Ruby's entire team, and JNPR as well since the old Headmaster knew more than well enough that he'd go to them and speak.

"Miss Nikos is honor bound, though…" He murmured as he thought, standing there long after his Headmistress had left. If he could convince her that Jaune was an evil, not a good, should things turn out that way then she would stand with him.

But making her the Maiden simply wouldn't work now. She was compromised now, either way. He'd need a new candidate now, and both miss Xiao Long and Miss Schnee were compromised in the same way.

Perhaps someone a little older then… Harder to control, to be sure, but...

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	24. Chapter 24

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"Headmaster Ozpin?" Ruby squeaked, voice small and echoing around the wide office when the elevator let her out. Seeing the man behind his desk, looking tired after a long day of work, look up at her and smile she stepped further into the room and swallowed her nerves. "You asked me to come to see you."

"Yes, I did, Miss Rose." He answered, waving for her to come forward and waiting to speak further until she started to. "Once our meeting is done, you should see Miss Nikos waiting for the elevator. JNPR and RWBY, I'm speaking to both's team leaders separately, to… Explain a few things." Gesturing at the chair across from him, he smiled pleasantly and added, "Please, sit."

"What's this… About?" She asked, hesitating a second before sitting down when he made no motion to speak, instead just looking from her to the chair meaningfully. "Headmaster, please, what's going on? I'm tired, I've had a long day, everyone's been pestering me about where I've been…"

"You were kidnapped by terrorists and then labeled 'missing', Miss Rose. I'm afraid coming back with a black-armored titan from Atlas has made you something of a favorite in the rumor mill." Ruby whined weakly at that, pressing a hand to her forehead, and he smiled warmly. "Trust me, Miss Rose, it will fade once you've been in classes for a week or so again."

"I guess…" She sighed, collapsing back against the chair and sagging tiredly, "But doing this and managing stuff with Gnarl at the Tower is hard. And I still have to get through the woods to get back tonight, if I wanna go home tonight."

"You could always stay here, you know." Ozpin suggested, holding up a hand in surrender and chuckling when Ruby shot him a petulant look with her arms crossed over her chest and eyes narrowed to silvery slits. "Or you could not do so, I was merely mentioning that you have a warm bed a touch closer than Atlas you could use to rest. That is all."

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" She asked warily, sitting up and scooting the chair close enough to lean her elbows on the table. Trying to look as mature as she could manage, as tired as she was, and she saw the amusement spark in Ozpin's eyes that told her it hadn't worked. "You want me to stay at Beacon."

"I do, but not for any reasons beyond your convenience, I assure you. Staying here means a shorter commute, more time to spend training and with your team, and more ready access to resources you need. Not to mention the lack of Grimm threatening you." She opened her mouth to respond and he held a hand up, asking for her patience. When she sat back slightly and didn't seem likely to interrupt, he went on, "That is not, however, what I asked you here for."

"Then what do you want?"

"Your uncle says you like fairy tales." He answered, raising a finely manicured eyebrow at her in question. "Is that true?"

"Well, I mean, yeah. Doesn't everyone?" She shrugged, drumming her fingers against each other anxiously for a second before asking, "Why?"

"I had hoped to share one with you. Tell me, have you realized yet why I have such disdain for the Overlord?" Eyes narrowed into hard suspicion, Ruby shook her head and eased back in her chair. Ready to leave if he said anything about Jaune, but surprised when he said what he did next. "I have fought seven Overlords, in my time, Miss Rose."

"What?"

"You see, Miss Rose, I am a… Steward, of sorts. A spirit which, upon my body's death, transfers to another person and shares a body with them. Allow me to introduce you, if you'll permit me a moment." Laying a hand against his chest, his eyes closed and a tremor went up to his spine and out along his arms.

Leaning back in his chair and turning to toss an arm up over the back of it cockily, 'Ozpin' smiled and bobbed his head, "Sup, lil Red."

"Uh…"

"My name's Jake Brass, was born out in Vacuo 'bout… Thirty years back, or so. Or at least, I think so. Shit gets confusing for me, sometimes, with all this goin' on." He waved a hand at himself dismissively, then suddenly seeming to grow more serious. "I was gonna be a philosopher at the Vacuoan Academy of the Sciences, before I woke up one morning with this twat in my head."

"I-I don't understand, Headmaster, what's-"

"He body hops." The man flinched, then chuckled and amended himself, "Oh pardon me, body snatcher, I'll put it your way. He reincarnates," he put the words in air quotes, then snorted and shook his head, "or at least, s'how he describes it. Long'n complicated, so here's the short and sweet, kinda like you."

"U-Um…" Surprised, she flushed, glanced away to stare at the table and murmured, "T-Thanks?"

"Yeah, that sounded less creepy in my-" Suddenly, he spasmed again and, looking at the table, sucked in breaths of air before shaking his head and looking at Ruby more levelly. "Apologies, Miss Rose, Jake can be… Rather a bit too forward and brash for my tastes. So normally, I wouldn't have allowed him to speak to you. Particularly if I knew he would talk to you like that."

"Isn't it his body though?" She asked, before she caught herself and added quickly, "A-Assuming I believe you, I mean. You could be faking, after all, and I know you don't like Jaune, so…"

"Has he truly jaded you so much? That you'd doubt one magic that prolongs life while accepting his magic without question or thought?" The rebuke was sharp, but spoken in a gentle voice. Still, Ruby flinched at the barbed words, and Ozpin went on before she could defend herself. "Very well then, would you like a display of my magic? As proof of what I can do, what I say, I mean."

She nodded and he returned the gesture, stretching out an arm and stretching his fingers dexterously before, with a snap that crackled with power and energy the same way Jaune's attacks did, fire burst forth in a bright plume of orange and red. Turning the hand and closing the fingers one after the other, the flame twisted and turned in response, fingers forming before the hand… Waved at her, an action mirrored by the Headmaster's own hand across from her.

"I'm sure you felt the magic in that, as exposed to it as you have been of late." She nodded curtly and he dismissed the fire, the room fading from dull, fiery orange to the pleasant green it normally took on. "My magic is… Somewhat harder to gather strength for than the Overlord's is, but I assure you that it is quite potent and well-controlled. It's felled Overlords in the past, even if that was a long, long time ago."

"Is t-that the fairy tale?" If he'd killed Overlords in the past… She had to tell Jaune about that, Ozpin was dangerous.

"Sort of, yes. Or rather, it is related to the one I want to share to you. The last Overlord built the Kingdom that preceded Vale, nearly two and a half millennia ago. Do you know how he built it?" Ruby shook her head 'no' and Ozpin's pleasant smile vanished, replaced by a flat stare. "He used his Minions to butcher and torment all who opposed him, enlisted those willing to do as he said, took hostages, and enslaved those who had the misfortune to survive his attacks. On their backs, he built the first walls that the Kingdom of Vale would later use to build the ones we hold today."

"T-That's awful…" Ruby murmured, quickly adding, "B-But Jaune isn't like that."

"Nor was he, at first." Ozpin agreed, sighing and turning to gaze out the windows around the office, the sky starting to darken as dusk set in more earnestly. "He was… Corrupted, by the Gauntlet and the things that happened to him, into becoming something truly cruel and vile. His reign was the same until, when the Grimm came, his Human and Faunus armies abandoned him and fled, and he died."

"Jaune won't be like that." Ruby said simply, Ozpin raising an eyebrow at her questioningly. "I won't let him be. I'll protect him from… From any of that, no matter what I have to do to do it."

"I hope not, and that's why I'm warning you, Miss Rose. It will be a hard road, but I have every reason to believe you will find some way to make it work." He smiled thinly at her, as though pained by something, and then nodded. "Now, you're tired, and you have a lot to think about. Please, have a good evening."

"O-Okay, uh… I'll just go then, I guess.." Awkwardly, confused by the conversation and the story both, she stood and offered a weak good night. In the elevator, she took a deep breath and vowed, "Don't worry, Jaune. I won't let anything bad happen to you. It's a promise, and you don't break promises."

But first, sleep, and then a lot of thinking come morning.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"It's this way." Blake said quietly as they walked, her heels clicking quietly on the pavement as they went.

"It's dark is what it is. I can't see at all out here..." Jaune pointed out, grumbling the other low enough he hoped the sound of the water washing against the sides of ships and concrete walls and piers the ships were moored at or his armor's metal chinking and rubbing against itself, or his heavy boots landing on the concrete heavily. "Why are we even at the docks? We left hours ago, too, so why didn't we just leave later?"

"To answer your first question, Perinius agreed to meet me out here at his place. To answer your second… Beacon airships only travel until three in the afternoon on weekdays." She said simply, tucking her thick black jacket closer around her shoulders and glancing around anxiously. "The White Fang keeps safehouses wherever they smuggle things in and out. People, weapons, whatever. Lot of it comes in through the docks here, so… That's where they set them up."

"Makes sense." It was still dark out, too much so for his comfort, even with the high street lamps casting little circles of light on the road. To either side as they walked, they passed every kind of warehouse. Some were brightly colored, some were old and faded looking, some were new and crisp.

"Where's security?" He asked, the warehouses all completely abandoned seemingly. Bright eyes, almost glowing in the night, turned to look over Blake's shoulder at him, an eyebrow raised in question. "There's no one out here. Shouldn't there be guards out and… Doing rounds, or whatever? I haven't seen a single person this whole time..."

"It's two in the morning and forty degrees outside." Blake pointed out, a stiff breeze blowing in off the bay and chilling them both almost as though to emphasize her point. "Plus, this late at night… The only people willing to go out in a neighborhood the Fang control are Fang members."

"And if someone does?"

"They don't." She said simply, in a way that brooked no argument and made Jaune very happy to have his axe in his hand. "We're almost there, he should be alone. We're friends, like I said. You're not going to… Hurt him, are you?"

"Depends on if he gives me what I want." He shrugged, armored shoulders clinking loudly as he did. Through his visor, he stared into the back of Blake's head, tightening his grip on his axe anxiously as he did, and asked, "Would that make you change your mind about helping me end the White Fang?"

"I…" She stopped, abruptly enough he almost walked into her back before he could react. Turning to look up at him, he saw a certainty and fear in her eyes that caught him off guard. "I've compromised enough in my life, Jau- Overlord, I don't want to start compromising my morality again. Perinius is a good guy, he just… No one is perfect. Or innocent. But he's not evil, and he's innocent of what happened to you."

"And you'd fight me if I tried anything?" She nodded, and he saw her hands curl and uncurl at her sides, and he snorted. She scowled up at him and he raised his Gauntlet, waving it off as quickly as he could. "I-I'm not laughing or anything, not at you I mean, I just… That's a good answer. But you looked terrified to give it."

"I am. Completely terrified, in fact." She turned back around without another word to say, continued on their way in silence for several moments. Finally, after what felt like ten minutes had passed at least, she spoke again in a quiet, nervous voice. "You're a good person, aren't you? In spite of everything that's… Happened, I mean."

"I try to be, yeah." As hard as it was, with Gnarl and the Gauntlet constantly pushing him towards being a very not good person. "I always wanted to be a hero, someone who protected the innocent and all that. A shining knight who fights for justice, as dorky as I already know that sounds… I'm still trying to figure out what I am, honestly."

"Is it that hard for you, too?" She asked, sounding less like she was trying to insult him and more just… Curious. He met her gaze for a moment before she turned away, shoulders scrunching up and voice small while she talked. "Figuring out how to be what you are and still be a good person… It's hard for me. I fought for years, bombed SDC facilities, planned raids… I want to be good so bad it hurts, even after all that, or maybe because of it, but…"

"But it's hard to figure out how to be good when everything you are is bad. All your training is in how to do bad things, all your experience is in it..." She spoke softly, and he kind of understood. "People do anything nice for you, and your first thought is how they're tricking you. Where the knife in the dark will come from, who'll be holding it… You forget what goodness is."

"The Gauntlet does the same for me..." Constantly pushing him to paranoia, tugging him towards the worst kinds of evil. It wasn't the same as actually experiencing what Blake had, but the Gauntlet pressed its experiences on him enough to simulate it. "Ruby keeps me up and running though, so it's not a problem. I can, you know, deal with it as long as she's around to help me."

"She means a lot to you." Blake observed quietly, something in her voice that might have been jealousy but just as well may have been something else for all he could actually tell through the Gauntlet's interference. "Doesn't she?"

"Yeah… More than anything else, she means everything to me." She was precious to him, more recently than she ever had been before. Without her, he didn't know what he'd be, what kind of Overlord he would have turned into. "She's a wonderful person. I'm happy that I got to know her, it's one good thing out of all this nastiness."

"Feeling quite candid tonight, aren't we, Dark but oh so Confiding Lordship of Evil?" He hissed at the voice whispering in his ear, and Blake turned at the sudden, startled noise, a hand flashing behind her back for Gambol Shroud.

He held a hand out to calm her, speaking for her benefit as much as to actually speak to his Head Minion, raising his Gauntlet to his mouth to make it look like he was using it to talk in case any sharp Faunus ears might be able to hear him. "Gnarl, I am going to assume you are talking for a different reason than just snarking in my ear?"

"Master, I am aghast! Positively shocked! I will have you know that snarking in my Overlord's ear is in my job description."

"Not shocked enough to be silent… And oh yeah? Where's it at?"

"Just above 'clubbing baby seals to death for amusement and a need to make more Minions' and somewhere below 'making sure you do your damn job', Master." He growled, response and reprisal enough in one for Gnarl to stammer and chuckle awkwardly, "N-Now now, your ghastly Evilness from whom no foe can hope to escape, i-it was only a joke. No need to get angry, or tell Mistress, or anything rash."

"Snark more and I'll tell Ruby you tried to get me to ban cookies from the Tower entirely." Blake snorted in amusement and Gnarl clammed up satisfyingly fast so, feeling better, he asked in a calmer tone, "What do you want, Gnarl? Are they in position like I asked? I'm assuming that's why you actually 'called' to speak to me."

"Y-Yes, Master." The Head Minion answered, crisp and quicker than he normally would have. "Five Greens hidden away on the rooftops around you, all saying the same. No one is paying terribly much attention to you, though there is a man in a White Fang mask watching you from a warehouse. Or more specifically, Miss Belladonna."

"Why would they be watching Blake?" The woman flinched anxiously, and Jaune repeated the question to her. "Why would they recognize you? You all wear masks. Except for specific people, I figured you wouldn't really know each other all that well. I mean, that's why I wear a mask."

"I'm… Actually, well…The daughter of the founder of the original White Fang. Ghira Belladonna." Jaune's arms dropped and his shoulders sagged, helmet tilting slightly to the side as he deflated and whined in disbelief. And escaping air, like a balloon letting it out through a small tear. "...And I may have dated one of Sienna Khan, the new leader of the White Fang that is, I may have dated one of her highest lieutenants… For two years."

"Well that's interesting…"

"Of course you're a friggin' terrorist princess." She huffed and he waved her scowl off, straightening and telling her about the watcher in the warehouse.

"A spotter, probably for the safehouse Perinus told me to meet him at." She waved a hand for him to follow her and turned, explaining as they walked down towards the edge of the pier where an old dock for small boats sat, hanging out on the water. "Perinus owed me a favor I called in for this meeting, so they know I'm coming. They'll just let him know I didn't, you know… Bring the VPD down on their heads or something."

"You did bring an angry Overlord, though." She turned to scowl at him, standing in front of a heavy metal door, and he shrugged. "What? You did." She rolled her eyes and turned back to the door, reaching up to undo her ribbon while he grumbled, "Friggin terror-princess… Rolling her eyes at me…"

"Just… Hush, and let me get us in there so you can ask your questions." He nodded, and she added in a low voice, "Hopefully without any broken bones or stabbing happening to anyone I happen to like."

"But the Minions love breaking bones and stabbing things. It's literally what they live for, Blake. Don't destroy their dreams like that, it's just rude." He protested weakly, Blake groaning and reaching out to knock on the heavy door with a roll of her eyes she probably hoped he couldn't see. "Blake, your eyes glow, I can see them rolling reflected in the window on that door."

"It's rude to stare at a Faunus' features like that." She pointed out, Jaune choking on air and actually seeming to amuse the smaller woman. "When he opens the door, just be quiet, let me do the talking, and look as… Not scary as you can in full, black armor."

"I mean…" He waved a hand at himself, shrugged awkwardly, and Blake groaned. Even with his shoulders scrunched up and his back bowed, he looked like some kind of terrifying gargoyle. "Like this? This good?"

"No." She growled quietly, shaking her head and letting her bare ears flick in the cool wind. "Just stand there and be intimidating then, you don't do not being scary very well when you're dressed like that."

"You told me to wear my armor!"

"Yes, but I didn't you'd be that- Nevermind. Forget it." She shook her head, seeming to give up, knocking on the door again in a different pattern, "Let's just get this over with… And don't make fun of the way he talks, either."

"What do you mean, the way he-"

"B-B-Blake?" The voice was small and anxious, and came through the door itself. The man, the voice at least clearly a male one, stammered less like a hardened terrorist and more like an anxious kid desperate to hide behind his mother's skirts. Not exactly how he expected a terrorist to sound, but… "I-I-Is that y-you? I-I didn't think i-it would actually b-be you by your s-self."

"I wouldn't betray you, Perinius, you're a good person. It's just my friend and I, like I said, and no one else." Blake turned to look over her shoulder, amber eyes glowing in the dark but somehow conveying a pleading look. Nodding understandingly, he turned and stepped away, out onto the street a bit to give them a moment to talk to each other.

"You are being quite open and trusting with the animal though, Master." He growled at the pejorative and felt Gnarl's apologetic smile even if he couldn't see it. He could hear the display in the Minion's words as he spoke, and had more than learned how he reacted to things like this over the last few months. "A joke! A joke! I know better than to earnestly insult your friends, Master. I was merely, uh, lightening the rather sour mood in here."

"One, don't joke about that." The Minion's humor always left something to be desired, normally… But that was normal, and not the important thing right now. "Two, what's wrong with me opening up to a friend? I do it with Ruby all the time."

"Yes, and Ruby is your Mistress and madly in love with you. Don't argue she isn't, Master." His jaw snapped closed, teeth clicking from how hard he shut his mouth from arguing with the creature. "I have served a thousand Overlords, with five times as many women in their lives and beds. As sickening an emotion as it is, I know the sickness of love when I see it. Even as young and awkward as she is."

"I didn't even realize…"

"Yes, I figured as much, which why I am telling you. Honestly, Master, how dense are you really?" The Minion sounded amused and annoyed at the same time, but contradictions seemed to also be a very Gnarl thing. "Honestly, how you missed it eludes me. She quite literally asked you to kiss her, your Dark Denseness."

"Hey, I'm not that dumb…"

"The Minions had a betting pool on if you would realize yourself what was going on, or if I'd have to tell you for you to get it." Okay, so maybe he was a little oblivious with everything going on. "The point being that this woman, Blake, is not so enamored with you. Thus she is not loyal. Which makes trusting her a risk, Master."

"I'm out in the middle of the night with her, alone, to meet up with her friends from when she was a terrorist, Gnarl." He pointed out, the Minion sighing on the other end of their magical link. "I feel like whether or not I trust her is a ship that's kind of come, gone, come again and then set sail for another continent for all it's worth talking about now."

"We could kill her?"

"No, we can't." Ruby would kill him if he did that, or Yang would, or Tai would, or any of the laundry list of other people would. If he was somehow alright with murdering Blake. "We're definitely also not imprisoning or enslaving her, before you say a damn thing about it, Gnarl."

"Concubine?"

"One, that's a kind of slave." Obviously, so he assumed the Minion was being facetious or joking again in that crummy way he joked. "Two, no. I'm not that after the whole, you know… Bed stuff."

"Yet." Gnarl snarked, cackling as he did. "I'd bet a good sum of gold, or Lien, or whatever you like that a visit from our little red Mistress would have you quite interested in 'bed stuff' as you call it oh so eloquently."

"I will hurl you off the damn Tower, Gnarl, or better yet..." The Minion went quiet when he trailed off and, smiling cruelly, he sighed and said simply, "Perhaps I'll ban Seal hunting, and let all the other Minions know it was your idea. Something about a newfound love of the furry darlings, maybe?"

"You wouldn't…"

"Hey, uh, Overlord." He turned at Blake's mildly embarrassed call, the door opening behind her and letting pale light spill out into the dark of night. "We're going inside, Perinius is okay with talking to us."

"Alright." He said quietly, following the woman into the doorway.

"C-Come in, please." Perinius, wiry and thin but standing straight-backed and seemingly relaxed in spite of his voice, said as they stepped through the door and into the warmer interior. As though to further confuse him, the man still wore his White Fang uniform, though the mask was hanging on the wall by the door along with his sword, and the man smiled under his round-rimmed glasses at them. "S-Sorry if it's a b-bit messy, I only had t-today to actually clean up. W-Welcome to my home, e-even if it isn't… That nice."

"Your home is fine, Perinius. We're both grateful that you're willing to even meet with us." Blake said gently, giving Jaune a meaningful look as he stepped in.

"Yeah, it's… Fine." He shrugged, unsure of what to say to the small man, looking at the emblem emblazoned on his back warily. "Thanks for having us."

Inside the now clearly converted boathouse was actually a nice enough living area, instead of the inside of a sheltered dock like he'd expected. A bed rested in the corner furthest from the old door, thick paneling covering the door probably still not enough not to quite kill the draft from the waters outside, and opposite the entrance door. Against the wall that had replaced the door boats would have used was a small box in the corner with a door, a little moon cut above it meaningfully, with a small kitchen set up along the same wall as the bed.

It was no Dark Tower, that was for sure, but… It had four walls, a roof, and electricity that kept it warmer than it was outside.

"T-There's some pizza l-left in the fridge if you're h-h-hungry, Miss Blake." He said, sitting on the edge of his bed and looking at Jaune nervously, pressing the fingers of his hands against each other and leaning forward. "Y-You're the Huntsman, r-right? The one that's g-gonna help me?"

"I am?"

"He is, yes." Blake shot him a look, taking a seat on the floor across from him and then glancing between him and the floor meaningfully. Sighing and sitting beside her, his axe leaning against his shoulder comfortably, Blake explained for him, "Perinius was telling me that, apparently, I was the last person to be able to walk away from the White Fang. Everyone else gets…"

"K-Killed." Perinius filled in for her, Blake pursing her mouth in dissatisfaction. "It's n-not an out and out r-rule, but after a while we all n-n-noticed that anyone who tried to leave, or said they w-wanted to… No one saw them a-again. A-And you can call me Perry if you w-want, Miss Blake. A lot of p-people do, now."

"Alright then, Perry it is." Blake said carefully, watching him for… Something Jaune didn't understand or know about, waiting a moment before continuing. "There was a stone cutting camp up in Atlas that was attacked, with an intention of robbing them. My Huntsman friend," she waved a hand at him and he nodded, "saved them so they put him on contract. White Fang Commandos came later and killed… Almost all of them, and we need to know who ordered it."

"I-I can ask around. If t-they used commandos… It would h-have to be one of the o-officers." The wiry man nodded and then glanced to Jaune, swallowing anxiously before he spoke again. "I-If I do that, t-though, and you go a-after them they'll k-know it was me. You have to p-promise you'll get me out of this. S-Somewhere safe, where I can h-hide."

"Perry is a technical and logistics wizard." Blake informed him with a small smile, raising an eyebrow coyly. "Can you think of anywhere that could use a bit of technical or logistical support? Perhaps up in Atlas?"

"We could always use some… Assistance managing the supply chains, and construction and the like." Gnarl chipped in helpfully, adding after a second, "Maybe we could even modernise, a bit, with someone like him helping. A capable servant like him could very well come in handy. Especially one so definitively indebted to you."

"I have somewhere safe for you, once everything's dealt with. It's cold, but the land is mine and you'll be working directly for me, so you'll be safer than you will be anywhere else." He answered after a moment, Blake and the other Faunus both visibly relaxing at the words. "But that all depends on what you find out."

"O-Of course!" Now all Jaune would have to do, is wait and see.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"But my Queen, I thought that Beacon was my priority?" Cinder asked quietly, the orb floating a few feet away and exuding its quiet menace. A menace she was more than used to experiencing, though she did still experience it when she spoke through these creatures. "I'll do as you direct, of course, but… Why the sudden addition in priorities?"

"Old magic, of a kind I haven't experienced in some great amount of time. Magic that is, in fact, quite a bit stronger than the magic the Maidens wield. Enough to prove useful to me, or a threat to me, in the right hands with the proper training." Something Salem feared? The thought was a completely alien one to Cinder, kneeling in the dark of the forest silently. "The power of the Overlord… Not a trifling one, even in the age of Gods from what I understand. And I sense it."

"How?" Sensing magic so far away as Vale's separate continent would either mean it was incredibly powerful, or Salem had things looking out for it.

"That is not something to concern yourself with, young Cinder. I have neither the time to explain it in enough detail for your curiosity, or the need to given my faith in your success." Salem dismissed, sounding infuriatingly regal as she did patronizing at the same time. "Simply be on the lookout. The Overlord will be wearing a Gauntlet of sorts, with a glowing gem set into the back of its hand. And he is always a man, to my knowledge, as well."

"And if he's in Vale still, and I find him?" She asked, resigned to the additional task and the complexities it added to her plans. "I am skilled, but if I act against him directly then my cover will be blown."

"If you find him, inform me immediately and do nothing else." Salem answered simply, sounding as though she were smiling on the other end of the Grimm's magically enhance connection. "I will send Watts to speak with him, and if he's amenable to talk, I will have him brought to me to speak directly."

"If he isn't?"

"Then I shall have no choice but to ride out and crush him myself, or send Tyrian and Hazel to back you up in the fight if he's not yet at his full power." She answered imperiously, adding in a confident tone. "You and the rest of my loyal servants… You won't be able to beat him alone. Only I can manage that."

"I understand. I will do as you ask, my Queen." Neither the Queen or the Grimm responded, instead slinking back into the woods silently, and Cinder scowled.

Just what the hell was an 'Overlord'?

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	25. Chapter 25

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"Are you really going to put him to work for you in Atlas?" Blake asked the next morning, looking haggard and tired even after several hours of rest in a hotel room he'd rented for the night. Face hidden behind his mask as always, he looked at her and she added quietly, "I can't do anything if you're not, but… I wanted to know. Need to know, so I can sleep at night at least."

"Is that why you look like you didn't get any sleep last night?" He asked, looking her up and down in concern. She avoided his gaze, even with the mask hiding it, and instead looked at one of the stores they were walking by as they headed for the Bullhead docks. "Brothers, Blake… Am I really that scary?"

"You have an army of essentially goblins, a dark tower in the northern wastes, giant spiders, and you came back from the dead." She pointed out dryly, even as low as her tone was. Probably wary of the sleepy pedestrians walking lethargically up and down the road around them, heading to early shifts or coming from late shifts. "You've also already massacred some of the best fighters an entire organization has to use, enjoyed it, and then declared war against a terrorist group."

"Hey, the Minions and spiders aren't… That scary." The woman, as anxious and exhausted as she was, managed to shoot him a disbelieving look and he sighed resignedly. "Okay, okay, fine, I guess it's pretty scary unless you're really, really used to it. And I'm, you know, used to it since they do what I say."

"Glad you can agree it's scary, Overlord.." The words were grunted as much as said, the woman watching a couple leaning against each other as they walked. Once they'd passed and she'd relaxed from whatever about the innocent little couple had tensed her, she murmured, "I can't believe you have giant spiders…"

"To answer your question, though, yes." He said instead of addressing the spiders, since he had nothing he could really say about them. "If he helps me and doesn't pull anything, or, you know, hurt any of you, then I plan on putting him to work for me. I can use the help expanding the Tower and managing the finances."

"And pretty conveniently, it lets you keep an eye on him as well." She pointed out, his silence at the accusation more than answering her assertions. "I knew it. He's not even safe if he does help you."

"He's safer if he does than anywhere else he could go, or anything else he could do. What would happen to him if anyone found out he'd simply talked to you and I?" This time, she didn't answer him and he grunted knowingly, shaking his head at the idea he might have simply been using the young, stuttering Faunus. "Exactly. If he does what he says, and doesn't stab me in the back later on, then he'll be protected. A literal army, and me with it, between him and whoever wants to get back at him for helping us."

"I see…"

"I don't throw away people, Blake." He finally added after a few moments of silence, anxiety and fatigue filled amber eyes avoiding his gaze even with his mask to hide his face from her. "I might have… Less than savory powers, and, well, the Minions, but I'm not that kind of evil. Life has potential, and wasting it just because someone's job is done is… Stupid. Besides being, you know, wrong."

"It's a slippery slope, Jaune." She finally said, sounding… Small, enough that he glanced to her in concern. "I've seen people walk that line, and saw someone I truly-" she cut off, shook her head, and seemed to go on differently, a hand holding her side gently just above the curve of her left hip. "Someone I cared for didn't come out the other end the same person. He came out angry, vindictive, cruel."

"And you're worried I will too?" She nodded and he sighed, the two walking in silence for a moment while he though.

She had experience in this, at least the more normal parts with him being angry and out for blood, and saw the bad end of it to boot. And now she was scared that she was going down the same road, scared she was seeing someone else transform into some monster.

"I won't go down that road, Blake. I promise you that." He considered patting her on the back reassuringly, but she was on his left. And a clawed gauntlet was not something that reassured people - aside from the occasional wild Ruby of course - to have patting their back, so he didn't. Instead, he forced a loud laugh as though he'd realized something, and when Blake gave him a confused look explained, "If I even tried, Ruby would kill me. Probably with that wooden spoon Gnarl is so scared of."

"She thumps me with it, Master! On the back of the head, and you allow it." The Minion squeaked in his ear, indignant and outraged. "Me! The Head Minion, leader of the longest existing evil army in the planet's history! Purveyor of mystical secrets, and confidante of the long line of Overlords past! And she. Thumps. Me. With. A. Wooden. Spoon."

"Trust Ruby if you can't trust me." He said quietly, ignoring the whining Minion.

"She wouldn't tolerate it, you're right about that at the very, very least…" Blake agreed, smiling slightly. "Ruby's far too… Pure of a person to abide you turning into the kind of monster Ad- He," she amended, from whatever name she'd almost let slip, "turned into."

But that brought Ruby up, and how she apparently felt about him, and how he'd missed that basically completely… Which was a box of problems he kind of wanted to open, and kind of wanted to shove into a closet and hide from. Which was a very confusing set of things to feel, to say the least. So he pushed it away to deal with later, and turned back to Blake and the present issues instead.

Not that she was saying anything, instead staring ahead listlessly either while she herself thought about what he'd said or what she'd brought up, or more possibly who she'd brought up. Or maybe even just because she was exhausted from sitting up all night thinking about everything. He couldn't solve, or even help with, the first problems… But he could do something about her being so tired.

"You know, Blake." He said when they finally got to the shuttle docks, Bullheads already starting to lift into the air lethargically, headed to wherever they were needed and sporting any number of sigils. From the Atlesian military shuttles to shipping companies, and everything in between. She looked up at him and he quietly asserted, "We could head back to the hotel. I can afford the day, and you look exhausted."

"I have classes, I can't-"

"I'll explain to Ozpin that you and I got… Caught up dealing with our mutual problems." She understood what he meant, he could tell by the way she grimaced. Leaning against the wall beside the door into the shuttle's entry foyer, watching the listless people occasionally pushing through the door to go in or come out.

Blake stood away from him, nearer to the road than to the building - or Jaune, for that matter - and turned to the side to look around anxiously, like they were being watched. Or like she didn't want to talk to him about this, but knew she couldn't prevent it. "You're exhausted, Blake. And tense enough that I can see it, and I… Am not the best at reading people. Worse now, honestly, after everything."

"I'll be fine. I can take care of myself." She grunted, ignoring him beyond a glance at his axe, where his fingers drummed along the haft of it agitatedly.

"Blake, you need to-" She shot him a glare, defiant and stubborn, and he sighed, shaking his head and bringing his axe forward like a cane to pull himself off the wall. She blinked, though, and shrank in on herself like he was going to do something with the axe. Pulling it away from her, he asked, "Blake, what's wrong-"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Now can we please go?" She snapped back at him loudly, striding past him and into the Bullhead terminal without a backwards glance. And, confused now, he made to follow her without anything more than a mouthed 'what the hell'.

The Bullhead was the same one from the day previous, having waited all night for them to return. Which they would have done earlier, if the docks for the Bullheads hadn't shut down several hours before their meeting with Perry. Almost as soon as they'd landed, they had been hustled out by tired staff who were too irritated by having to process in another Bullhead instead of getting to go home for the night. Which he'd felt kind of bad for, but it was too late to do anything about it so he'd moved on.

The night before's ride into the Kingdom-City had been tense and anxious, Blake worried about him not keeping his word - which still irked him, but he chose to ignore it - and Jaune worried about Blake's friend tricking them. The ride back out of it, though, was different. Less awkward and anxious, and more… Tense instead.

Just as quiet, though, with Blake fighting sleep in the corner of the craft and Jaune… Sitting at the other patiently.

"Master, I do believe this is an awkward silence." Gnarl oh-so helpfully chipped in, sounding bright and happy at a chance to nettle him. Probably in revenge for him mentioning Ruby at his expense. "I would highly, highly, highly suggest you not return to Beacon in such an awkward silence, and with Mistress' friend in such a sour mood. It might be a portent for the entire day."

"Not normal for you to show so much concern for me, Gnarl." He murmured, knowing Blake could hear him and seeing her ears flick under her ribbon.

"We lack the materials to make her cookies if you upset her." The Minion added quietly, clearly trying to maintain some semblance of self respect.

"There it is." He chuckled, the Head Minion growling and not saying another word. Seeing Blake's confused face, a brow raised over baggy eyes more than enough to convey that even to his apparent denseness, he coughed awkwardly and explained. "Gnarl said I should, ah, apologize to you for making things… Awkward. Before Ruby gets mad at me, and he has to bake her a thousand and one cookies to quell her spoon-filled ire."

"Spoon filled?" Exhausted, upset, paranoid, but Blake still managed to look disdainfully surprised somehow.

"Master, please, she still respects me!"

"She has a wooden spoon that she whacks Gnarl with if he misbehaves." He ignored the pain filled sob of the Minion, aside from a small smirk Blake couldn't see, and shrugged his armored shoulders. "Just a normal little kitchen spoon, but… Gnarl is terrified of it, apparently. Ruby pulls it out and he behaves, does whatever she says, all that jazz."

"You are the cruellest of masters…"

"Maybe I should have Giblet enchant it…" He mused, the woman across from him actually smiling slightly at the clear joke. "Gnarl, do you have an enchantment that would let it just… Hover and whack you on command? Ruby would love that, I'm sure."

"No! I shall not allow such cruelties! No decent, Overlord-abiding Minion should have to endure this treatment. Wait..." The Minion paused for a moment, before finally grunting and shrugging off whatever his point would have been. "Sorry, Lordship, can't dwell on that. That way lies 'sympathy' and 'empathy' and other naughty, dirty words."

"You know, I wanted to be surprised. But you would be worried about normal things like empathy and sympathy, Gnarl." He sighed, shaking his helmed head and sighing. Blake didn't say anything, or even relax completely, but she stopped scowling and seemed to at least untense a bit, if she couldn't relax entirely.

Everything was probably just too much, too fast to hope for any more, and he was happy to let her enjoy the silence with a bit less tension now.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Why aren't we landing at the normal spot?" He asked, pressing a finger against the little button that connected his intercom to the cockpit. It clicked and buzzed quietly as he spoke, old and rickety like old electronics always were, but seemed to work.

"Orders. Got told to land in the freight area, back around behind the main academic building." The pilot answered, his voice gravelly and old sounding in the kind of way that only old men could really ever sound and be healthy. A second passed and, preempting the young Overlord's question, he added, "I, uh, I don't know why, sir, I'm just a pilot. I held over in Vale 'cuz they told me to, so I'm landing in back if they tell me to."

Ozpin, then. Perfect, because that was exactly who he wanted to see today… Not his sort-of-girlfriend, or his friends who knew he wasn't dead now. Ozpin was totally the face he wanted to see, and an Ozpin swinging around his 'I'm the Headmaster and can do whatever I want here' dick to boot.

Wonderful.

"Thanks, uh, pilot? Yeah, thanks." He flicked the communication-link off and turned in his seat, looking at Blake and jerking his head up with his question like he'd seen in some movies, "What about you? Do you think something's going on?"

"I don't know, really. Why would there be? Have you done something that would have caused someone here to hold something against you?" She asked, genuine confusion and curiosity coloring her voice and exhausted looking face. And a hint of concern, too, though that was probably less for him and more for Perry, Ruby and their mutual goals regarding the White Fang.

Or maybe just the idea of the giant spiders not having him around to control them, that cynical little voice offered. Which was… Helpful.

"Ozpin doesn't like me. Er, well, he doesn't like Overlords, I don't actually know that he cares one way or another about Jaune Arc." He probably didn't, now that he thought about it, unless he cared about the bad reputation that must have come with him sneaking in and turning out as ketchup on the bottom of the canyon. "And the only one who would both know that we got a Bullhead into Vale yesterday and be able to make it land somewhere else is Ozpin."

"I can't think of anyone else either." She offered, grimacing slightly at the admission. "What are you going to do about it, though?"

"See what he wants, I guess. I can't exactly stab him or anything, you know, ridiculous like that." Ridiculous, but a pretty permanent solution, to say the least… Especially since Ruby would also kill him for that. "Besides, we've kind of… Got a truce going, now. So whatever he wants shouldn't be that bad of a thing for me. In theory."

"In theory." She echoed, shaking her head to the side and raising her eyebrows at the obvious problems there. "I can stay, if you want to. I don't think he'll do anything in front of a student of his. Not so flippantly."

"No, I'll be fine. Just go to your dorm and get some damn rest, you need it." He held up his clawed hand when she made to speak, chuckling at the defiance already sparking along her shoulders and in her fatigued eyes. "I'll clear it with Ozpin myself, Blake, and you're my friend. Who was up late because she helped me out with my own problems, and was stressing over it all night. Please, just get some rest."

"Jaune-"

"I'll sick Yang on you." He threatened as the Bullhead tilted, angling in for landing.

"Fine, fine." She finally relented, sighing tiredly and letting her shoulders droop in exhaustion now that she'd agreed to sleep to get rid of it. "I'll get some sleep in the dorm, just remember not to tell Yang. And to tell the Headmaster."

"I will, I will." He chuckled, the ramp lowering in front of them as the shuttle finally shuddered to a landing.

The freight area was large enough to accommodate six Bullheads like his, carrying staff, supplies of all kinds, and whatever else was ordered by the people of Beacon into a private area for loading and unloading. Semi-round in shape, with the warehouse structures on two sides facing away from the cliff the administrative building had been set near, the landing area itself hanging out over air for a dozen feet on the furthest side. Already droids were moving supply crates into neat piles against one wall while a pair of mildly tired looking workers in green and blue oversaw it.

And tried to ignore the Headmaster of the Academy standing in the wide doorway, leaning on his cane and smiling in that faux-pleasant way that he did towards Jaune. The kind that only existed for politeness, so they could pretend they'd been welcoming and friendly when everyone knew they really, really hadn't been.

"Ozpin." He gave the man a curt nod when he and Blake reached him, letting the bottom of his axe hit the ground hard enough to clang just a little.

"Headmaster." Blake said, quieter and almost reproachfully glancing to him and then back to the man.

"Miss Belladonna." Ozpin said, smiling politely and looking her up and down. As if he expected to find her covered in injuries, or he was surprised she was breathing, he wasn't sure. But it spoke of mistrust for him and made him sigh. "You look… Exhausted, but unharmed."

"She's going to head to her dorm and get some sleep, if you'd excuse her for the day. Our contact was a bit late to the meeting, and we ended up still up until close to five this morning." Ozpin glanced to him and then, doubtful of what he was saying - which, fair, considering it was a lie - looked to Blake with a raised brow. When she nodded, he looked back to Jaune and the blonde added, "It was just a meet-up. If there'd been a fight, I had my… Friends there to pull us out."

"I see." He got the meaning clearly enough, judging from the pursed lips and disapproving sigh. "Very well, then, Miss Belladonna. I'll see assignments gathered for you and sent along with your team to you. Be sure to get some more adequate rest through today and this evening."

"Yes… Sir." She seemed unsure but, when Ozpin lifted a hand to gesture at the door behind him meaningfully, she didn't look back at him before leaving.

Loyalty to him came somewhere after sleep apparently.

"Now that she's off to get some actual sleep," Jaune started, sounding as tired as he already felt of whatever Ozpin had for him, "what do you want, Ozpin?"

"I… Hate to do this, for I know where it leads, but… I have no choice, sadly." Grimacing and sighing almost as though it physically hurt, he finally forced out, "I need your help with something. Or, rather, I need eyes and ears scattered around the forests surrounding Vale. And you are the only person to hand with enough eyes and ears that doesn't come with a literal flotilla attached."

"Why?" He asked, so surprised at Ozpin asking him directly for help that he forgot to be suspicious of him.

"That… Is best discussed behind closed doors, but suffice to say it involves the White Fang and the Vytal Festival." The White Fang being mentioned had his ears perking up, and he took a step towards the man so they could speak more quietly almost before he thought about it. "I know they plan an attack of some manner, but not from where, or what kind. I only have a couple dozen Huntsman to hand, including my staff here, and they are busy with internal security concerns throughout Vale. And the Atlesian navy is..."

"Obvious." He offered, the man nodding morosely in confirmation. Sighing, almost even growling, his irritation at the situation - and for once not at Ozpin being involved in it - and waved a hand past him at the great, wide door. "Let's go to your office and talk, then. Gnarl will need the details on… Things."

"This could be a great opportunity, Master, to recover some of our lost treasures…" Gnarl pointed out, the Overlord grunting and hoping the creature would understand what he meant by it.

"Very well. James is already waiting for us. He can brief you, and then you can brief your… Gnarl." The man turned while Jaune rolled his eyes and followed.

For once, it would be nice if Ozpin left anything up to anyone else...

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Instead of the private room they'd been to the last time Ozpin had wanted to speak to him, Jaune soon found himself instead in the main Headmaster's office. The windows were covered by thick, black curtains and a blue holographic map displaying Vale - a basic one that didn't show much detail beyond outlines, labeled districts, and the forests around Vale - cast pale light on the curtains. The white-uniformed General was, as promised, waiting there patiently with his hands clasped behind his back and his back nearly touching Ozpin's desk.

The man, surprisingly, offered Jaune a respectful nod and asked for clarity, "He's agreed to help, then?"

"The White Fang are my enemies as much as either of yours." He pointed out snappishly, leaning his axe against the wall beside the door and habitually channeling Mana into his Gauntlet in case he needed to teleport to it. "So whatever you need to hurt them, you have it, if I can spare it. So please, tell me what you need so I can tell you if I can do it. And what I'll need to do it."

"What do you mean?" Ozpin asked, voice laced with hesitation that he wasn't used to from the man. "You already have a small army under your personal command. That should more than suffice for scouting and the likely small skirmishes."

"When I'm with them, yeah, they're good enough to do most anything. But I can't be in all of these places at the same time, Ozpin." He closed with the map, pointing to Beacon itself, and went on, "I have a Portal Shrine around here, and I can teleport back to it freely enough. So I can cover there and one other spot as I am, but…" Letting the clawed tip of his Gauntlet drop with his arm and then crossing both over his chest, he let his head loll sarcastically at Ozpin, "There's hundreds of miles around Vale's wall, and I'm willing to bet you need it all watched."

"How many Minions do you have?" Ironwood asked, Jaune turning his helmet towards him so the man would know he'd heard the question but keeping quiet so he also knew that he wouldn't spill the beans on how strong he was without reason. The General grimaced, and Jaune knew that message had gone through. In a tired, but firm and polite voice, he added, "I only ask because, if you wish, I can… Devote scouts to regions you lack the manpower for. I only have a trio of scout regiments."

"Gnarl?" He asked, raising the Gauntlet meaningfully and looking down on it so the others knew he was speaking to him instead of them.

"I advise caution, but… In this case, giving our accurate numbers might actually be a boon to us. To force them into surrendering things to us that we need and want, much as I despise appearing weak." The Minion sighed, sounding frustrated and angry at the problem at hand, and then went on, "We have two hundred and eleven Minions, counting myself, Giblet, the workers and so on. Of that, a hundred and forty three are purely fighters, with forty two more who mostly serve as hunters and scouts."

"And the giant cave spiders?" He asked quietly, Ironwood's brows shooting up at the question.

"Two dozen are old and large enough for riding and fighting." The Head Minion answered, "Enough to put in the more likely spots where fights might happen, and a few extra eyes to put out there, but not enough to matter."

"I have around two hundred Minions and twenty four spiders they can ride." Counting the workers, at least, as bad as they were at fighting usually, but they had eyes so they could at least look out for things. "Of them, only a bit under fifty are capable scouts and hunters. I can sprinkle those around with normal Minions held back a bit in case something happens."

"Giant… Spiders?" Ironwood asked quietly, sounding disgusted and terrified in the same moment. "Did I hear that right? I hope sincerely I did not."

"You did." Jaune answered simply, shrugging simply. "They're big enough to ride and sentient, but they're… Actually kind of nice. They like making clothes, actually, I found out recently. I'm going to have them change up the lining of my armor, soon as I can, actually."

"H-How do you expand your host? Do you… Have a population you can call on?" The Atlesian asked quickly, Ozpin standing silent and staring at the map forlornly while the general rushed on to seemingly pretend the spiders didn't exist. Taking the silence that answered as something other than it was, the Overlord staring at Ozpin meaningfully, the large man asked, "What is the matter?"

"Ozpin knows what's the matter." He said quietly, looking to the man and asking, "So, how much of my own books and scrolls are you going to give me to fight for you?"

"They are your enemies as well as mine." Ozpin pointed out. An attempt to evade what he'd asked, and a fairly weak one at that. "You're going to fight them whether it helps us or not. We both know that."

"Yeah, but this isn't fighting them. This is scouting, helping you with security because you know something is coming. Not just fighting them." He sighed, shaking his helmed head, and added in a quieter voice, "I get you don't like what I am. But I want to help. You don't give me my scrolls, let me bulk up my forces, I'll still try. It won't work, of course, but I'll try either way."

"We do need his numbers, Ozpin." Ironwood pointed out quietly, "And if he ever tries anything, the Atlesian Navy will be there to fight him back."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, General." The uniformed man shrugged noncommittally, and Jaune turned back to the Headmaster again. "Up to you, Ozpin. Make a call, already, so Gnarl and I can start moving Minions where we can."

"I'll have my scouts support them." Ironwood added helpfully, looking to the Headmaster with a sour face at the idea regardless. "But if the White Fang is moving supplies in for what you said… Failing would almost certainly mean a lot of dead people. Civilians, Hunters, my soldiers… Students if we can't contain it, and so on."

And it was preventable, right now, if Ozpin could see past his own prejudices.

"Maybe I go bad eventually, like you keep saying." Jaune jumped in after a few silent seconds of the man thinking and Ironwood waiting as patiently as he could, hands clasped behind him. Waving his Gauntlet at the map, Jaune asked, "Maybe I attack Vale, one day, for some reason. But if we don't get over our problems, then Vale will be attacked, and people will die."

"I would really like to prevent that." He finished finally, letting the arm fall and adding in a firm, sure tone. "I died wanting to be a Hunstman. I literally gave my life for it already, because I wanted more than anything to be a Huntsman. To protect people from the Grimm and… Whatever else. To be a hero. So put me to the test, Ozpin, and see if I'm a villain like your prejudices assume… Or a hero, like I died to be."

A full minute passed before, sounding like he'd had to force the words out through gritted teeth, Ozpin finally grunted, "Very well, then. Send for your 'Gnarl', have him come here, and we'll… Go through the scrolls I collected and see if anything applicable to our predicament can be found. Anything to that end, I will surrender to you."

"I'll send for a spider to bring him here." As though the Minion wasn't hiding in RWBY's dorm…

"Joy." Ironwood grumbled, shaking his head and stepping towards the map. "Until the… Spider shows up with your Minion, please allow me to brief you on what we know. As little as that is…"

After he nodded, the man began to explain, "We know that the Vytal Festival will be attacked in some manner, which is why my fleet will be stationed in defensive formations around it and along Vale's perimeter wall. We do not, however, know what form that attack will come in, hence my inability to devote infantry or precision strike teams to counter it."

"Makes sense." Atlas' soldiers were good at very specific jobs, but he couldn't send in bomb disposal without knowing they would encounter bombs. It could just as easily be men with guns, or a raid, and they wouldn't do anything against that. "You have to know what you're sending them in for, and where, and we don't know either."

"Exactly." The General nodded, smiling in a way that showed he was happy someone understood. "So I've got soldiers layered around Amity, and along Vale's wall. Enough to stymie any attack, but not enough to counter it. And certainly not enough to send out scouts to find out what the White Fang are doing, beyond the reports of them moving around a few miles out from the wall in practically every direction."

"Well," he smiled behind his mask, rolling his shoulders to pop them, "this is going to be fun."

"Indeed." Gnarl added, sneering cheerily. "I'll set the Minions to harvesting leather and fur for armor, Master. Along with essence of course. I know of a particularly good source, if you'll… Rescind a certain, aggravating ban."

"Fine, Gnarl." He sighed, shaking his head and chuckling quietly. "You can go seal hunting to fill up our reserves, just this once."

"Wonderful…"

"If Ruby gives you permission." He added, smiling at the face he knew the Minion would make at the requirement.

"Now that's not fair at all… So cruel, unfair, arbitrary and demanding..." The Minion sniffled, sounding choked up when he added, "I'm so, so proud at how Evil you are becoming, Master. So immensely, immensely proud."

"Run me through where you want my Minions." He said finally, stepping up beside the Atlesian and nodding his head at the map. "And where your support will be, too."

"What about you?" The General asked, curiosity instead of heat coloring his voice. "I figured you would want to be out there, taking the fight to the Fang. Whether or not they're actually doing something or this is coincidence, you have your own feud to pursue. Do you not?"

"I'm going to be on the opposite side of Vale, far from the Beacon Portal Shrine, since I can teleport back to it if I need to." He answered, ignoring the sour face Ozpin made at 'Beacon' in the same name as his Portal Shrine. "That way, I'm as close as I can be to… Pretty much anywhere a fight could break out."

"An intelligent enough deployment strategy." Ironwood complimented, the large man nodding politely and turning to the map. "Very well, I'll brief you on everything you need to know going forward."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Hours passed while the Atlesian general briefed him on everything they knew and where his men would be, as well as where his Minions should put themselves to maximise coverage. Most of that time was devoted to the latter rather than the former, due to the bad news that they weren't sure what the White Fang were doing out on the frontier beyond that they were doing something. Gathering equipment, going silent in places where normally they'd stir up rallies or riots if they could manage it, and hiding in areas that they'd normally made displays in of being there in public.

Hours spent to say, basically, 'We have no idea where they are, or what they're doing. Just that they're out there somewhere, doing something.'

Which explained why Ozpin was willing to ask him for help… Unless the old man hoped he'd get killed fighting out there, so there wouldn't be an Overlord anymore. Which would make sense, but something told him that if the Headmaster wanted him dead he'd be less obvious in getting him killed. This already screamed it, obviously enough for him to see it, so he actually trusted that it wasn't murder by mission.

Classes had, unfortunately, ended several minutes before he'd left the office. Which meant that he had to walk through most of Beacon with the students surrounding him, looking at him and whispering. About him, about his arms and armor, maybe even about Ruby since he was pretty sure the rumor mill had already gotten around him bringing her back in one piece.

He ignored it all, though, even if it annoyed him just a bit more than he'd admit.

Swiping his Scroll across the door-lock, he pushed into the dorm he and Tai shared now, smiling when he found Ruby curled up on his bed snoring away in her uniform. Tai was on his own bed, leaning against the wall and looking at something on his Scroll, and offered him a little nod in greeting.

"She's already out?" He asked quietly, gently laying his axe against the wall by the door, turning to start removing his armor and laying it on the table beside his axe. "Classes only let out twenty minutes ago."

"Came straight here to see you, saw you weren't here and laid down." The other man informed him, short and quiet to avoid waking the sleeping girl. "Probably got worn out catching up with everything in her classes. Let her sleep."

He nodded instead of saying anything, sitting on the floor at the end of his bed, leaning back against it now out of his heavier armor and wearing the cloth under it. Quietly, he said to the other blonde, "I'm gonna catch a nap too, Tai. If you don't mind?"

"You do you." He grunted, flicking a finger on his Scroll's screen. "I'll yell at you both around dinner time, so you can get some food."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	26. Chapter 26

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"Up you get, asshole." He heard Tai shout loudly, a foot smacking into his shin a second later before he could wake up. Surprised, his eyes snapped open and he hissed in pain, rolling onto his side and holding his hand over the sore spot while he woke up more fully. Snorting a laugh, the man added, "Ruby went to get breakfast for us, and we have an appointment with Oz after that. Something, something, ancient scrolls?"

"General Ironwood wants me to help him against a White Fang attack coming up sometime during the festival." He explained shortly, groaning as he stood and his limbs complained about having slept in his under-armor for so long, the stiff, padded cloth not suited to sleeping comfortably for obvious reasons. Stretching, he went on, "Ozpin has old tomes and scrolls from other Overlords, and is letting me see them so I can be helpful."

"And I'm sure whatever power you get from it doesn't matter at all?" The older blonde man raised an eyebrow and smirked, crossing his arms with the half-joke and half-accusation.

"I won't lie and say it's not part of it, but… I want to help, too." Even if that was just as much to make Ruby happy as because it was the right thing to do, and he knew it. "If he didn't have them, I'd try, but I'd do a lot worse. I have a weak vortex shield, a weak fire spell, and an axe. To fight armed, trained riflemen."

"You did it before." Tai pointed lightly, shrugging when Jaune gave him a sarcastic look. "Worked out pretty well, in the end, didn't it?"

"No, I got shot to hell and back before, remember? I didn't actually fight them all that much." He'd only really run up, spewed some fire, stabbed one and then gotten shot to pieces, really. If not for Ruby and the Minions, he'd have probably died from wounds like that. "I had to heal for what, a month and a half after that? So, uh, kinda don't fancy rushing into rifle fire again, you know? Not if I can help it, at least."

"Hey, just saying." The older man shrugged, throwing him a roguish smile, "I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

"I can, you know, die?" He tried, working at the sides of his gambeson, undoing the thick, cordy threads that bound it around his chest. Like shoelaces, but dark brown, thick as his fingers and laced up in his armpits.

Loosening them, he pulled the stiff thing over his head and shivered in the cold air, tossing it on the bed and sighing. Standing shirtless, he turned to look at Tai, the man raising an eyebrow at him questioningly, and Jaune added, "Which would make Ruby sad. Very, very, very sad."

"Would it?" The other blonde asked coyly, grinning widely. "Asking for a friend, promise."

"You're an idiot. A tall, blonde, literal stereotype." He accused, the older man grinning, leaning against the wall by the door and crossing his arms. He didn't even bother pretending to deny it, either, which was somehow the funniest part about the whole thing. "What have you got going on, anyways?"

"Keeping an eye on you and my youngest daughter. Making sure you two use both of your beds the way beds in an Academy are meant to be." The man answered frankly, Jaune rolling his eyes at the answer. "Hey, I was a teenager once. Dying is a hell of a motivator to get laid. I would know, I hooked up with my partner… Pretty soon after graduation."

"Yang's mom, right?" He asked after a second to think and remember, more to make conversation than anything else while he swapped his leather trousers out for a clean, Beacon uniform, pair of them. "Ruby mentioned that they were half-sisters a while back, and Yang's older, so…"

"Yeah, it was Yang's mother. She was hot, I was hot, we kept almost dying… Basically biweekly, and that kinda incentivized us a bit to experience life. Fighting monsters, getting shot at, it's all scary as hell and just as dangerous." The man's smile slipped away as memories tugged at him, eyes getting a distant look to them, before they snapped back on him and his bitter, pained smile turned into an almost predatory smirk. "And you're here. Young, blonde, strapping, scarred up, just like me. And you're both fighting monsters, terrorists, almost dying, literally dying in your case..."

The accusation was clear, even to Jaune's apparently story worthy levels of obliviousness.

"I'm not stupid." He answered quietly, "Give me some credit here, Tai. At least a little bit, for old time's sake."

"Didn't you sneak into Beacon Initiation with no training or any Aura defences whatsoever?" Tai asked in counter, eyebrow raised meaningfully as he did. Jaune grimaced and, probably to sell the point even further, the older man added, "And with nothing but a battered old family sword and shield, without even any real armor, to protect you?"

"Okay, okay! Point made, Evil's sake, point made..." He wasn't the brightest, at least in making the big decisions. He could accept that critique at the very least, and he'd been working on it.

But telling and showing were different, and he could stomp and rave all day that he was getting better, but Tai would only really buy it when he saw it. Instead, he decided on a different approach, "Ruby's better than me at that kind of stuff, really. Planning for things, I mean."

"Always been like that." He nodded, sighing sadly but somehow smiling through it. Even that, though, seemed oddly… Sad, in a way Jaune didn't understand. "Her mom always said that a Huntress needed to be able to plan. So, when Ruby got old enough, and said she wanted to be a Huntress, I made sure to teach her like Summer would have wanted."

"It worked. She's… A bit shy and nervous about basically everything, but she's also one of the smartest women I know." The man nodded, watching him for a long time before, finally, Jaune reached up to play with his hair anxiously. "Gnarl says she, uh, that she… Loves me, too, a-apparently. I didn't, you know, realize because I'm not that bright, but I plan on talking to her about it."

"I didn't know you had a desire for suicide, Master!" He rapped a knuckle against the gem and the Minion sighed agitatedly, "Fine, fine, I'll pick out a nice headstone for your stupid self."

"Okay, so I'm going to ask really nicely why you're mentioning this to me?" Tai finally ground out, sliding down the wall and raising an eyebrow sharply at him. "Because, see, I was in a good mood. And we were getting along. And now you're bringing this up. Don't we have, like, a small war to be planning for? And how does Gnarl know anyways?"

"Gnarl has been around for a very long time. Longer than just about anything except the Grimm, I think. He's not been wrong about, well, anything yet, so..." Jaune sighed and shrugged, sitting on the bed and staring at the floor for no other reason than not to look at the other man. "If she feels that way, though, I… Want to actually take her out. You know, on dates and stuff."

"Yeah…" The man drawled out, "And that answers my question… How?"

"Look, I know this is a really weird situation for everyone, and I know me and Ruby kind of… Happened, but I want to do this right." Jaune explained simply, agitated in a way at Tai for being agitated at him. Which he didn't know whether to chalk up to the Gauntlet or just the overwhelming amount of crap going on right now in his life. "If I'm going to go out with her, I want to at least ask you first."

"You want permission to actually date my daughter?" The man asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. "But you didn't think to ask before kissing her?"

"I mean, I didn't exactly get the chance." He pointed out sharply, looking up and jabbing a finger at the other man almost accusingly. "And she asked, and I was… Not right, yet. I was still dealing with everything that happened, to Emilia and the camp. Still am, really, but… But that's not important. I'm asking now, because it's the right thing to do."

"Mhm, I guess that's fair… Bullshit excuses, but fair too." The man nodded slowly, lips pursed in thought while he looked the young Overlord up and down. Finally, the man sighed and shrugged, "Fine. Not like Ruby'd listen if I said no any damn way, right? So you can have my blessing, or whatever you're after. Just… Don't fuck up, yeah?"

"Not planning on it." He nodded, glad to have this particularly awkward conversation coming to a close. "I just wanna make Ruby happy, and take care of my people, you know? That's all I want."

"I can understand that, yeah. She deserves to be happy, and if you do that for her…" Hr shrugged, grunting as he pushed himself up from the floor and stood, one hand on a hip and the other pointing at him threateningly, "But if you lay a hand anywhere on her that is normally covered up by a bikini, I will cut off your fingers and castrate you. With a spoon. Or I'll do worse."

"W-What could be worse?"

"I'll tell Yang you slept with her innocent little baby sister." The man said ominously, smiling at the little joke. Or what Jaune hoped was a joke, since Yang already terrified him. Turning, the Huntsman waved a hand at him and sighed, "I'm going to go hang out with Qrow. See if he needs any help. You need me in your little White Fang mission?"

"Are you offering?" He asked, letting his voice carry a bit of his hopefulness in it. He could handle it, with some new magic boosting himself up, but to have an extra set of Huntsman level hands on duty would make a hell of a lot of things easier. "Because if you're offering, I certainly don't mind paying for you to help with the Grimm that'll come when the fight kicks off."

"I'll send you my bill to, uh, pass off on your midget." He nodded and pulled the door open, "Don't worry, I'm not that- Oh hi, Ruby."

"Eep!"The girl staggered by him, the foot she'd raised to kick in place of a knock missing and flopping against the floor loudly. "H-Help! Catch! Do a thing!"

She staggered in, bouncing on her heels and trying to catch both her balance and the tray of food she'd brought, the two blondes panicking and rushing to catch her. Tai got there before Jaune, since he was closer, and Ruby laughed awkwardly while he took the food and gave her a stern look. Turning, he laid the tray on the desk and sighed like someone who had suffered for far too long while Ruby waved at Jaune excitedly. He returned the gesture awkwardly and she grinned, clearly excited to finally see him for the first time in a couple of days.

And there was the anxiety again… Joy.

"You guys enjoy your food, I'm heading out for real now." Tai called, turning to grin knowingly and point at Jaune, sitting on the bed once again. "Remember what we talked about, yeah? I'll be waiting. Lemme know when we have to get out there and mess some morons up."

"G-Got it." Because the damn fight with the Fang was what he meant, obviously. And he was a Grimm in disguise, too. Once the man had gone, he licked his lips and looked to Ruby, trying his best to quell the anxiety he felt. "So, uh… How have you been?"

"Bored, stressed, catching up with classes, and avoiding letting Weiss kill me with extra credit assignments." She answered cheerily, looking a bit haggard now that he looked close enough. Nothing more than a slight tiredness to her eyes and a bit less pep in her step when she stood up and bounced, literally unfortunately for Jaune and his hormones right now, over to the food. "Brought bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches, some Atlesian Toast, a few fried eggs… Didn't know what you'd like, so just grabbed a few things."

"It, uh, it sounds good but I wanted to talk." She squeaked at the words, turning to look at him in a small panic, and he raised a hand, laughing awkwardly. "N-Nothing bad, just… I was wondering if you wanted to actually, you know, go out? Like, officially, I mean, as my g-girlfriend."

"O-Officially? L-Like, out and out, officially your girlfriend?" She asked, leaning on the table in front of her and then grinning wide when he nodded. Spinning, she launched at him and he barely got out the surprised swear before the Ruby shaped missile smacked into his chest and bowled them both over the edge of the bed in a glomp that was as much a hug as a grapple. Peppering his face with kisses, she stammered out a, "Of course, you idiot."

And he laughed, hands on her hips holding her comfortably against him, the anxiety from before gone. Finally, her kisses landed on his lips and she melted against him, the blonde rolling over on the floor so she was under him, her legs wrapping around his waist for no other reason, he knew, than to be close to him. His free hand slid up along her back, tracing along the curve of her spine, and settled in her hair to play with it and hold her there and he finally relaxed fully.

This was so much simpler than worrying about how she felt about him… She'd tell him eventually, and he wouldn't pressure her. He could wait.

"Oh!" She pulled away for a second, hair falling around her head and tickling his face, silver eyes bright and energetic once more. The haggardness was gone, now, which made this even better for Jaune. She let herself lay against him, Jaune's heart hammering at the softness he felt pressing into his chest, and she asked, "What should we do for our first real date?"

"I, uh, I dunno. I didn't actually think about it..." He shrugged, Gauntlet moving to the small of her back comfortably. She wasn't near heavy enough to bother him, and with her legs straddling his she mostly held herself up anyways, so he felt find doing that. "Maybe we could… See a movie? Get dinner?"

"Oh, oh!" She bounced excitedly, which drew a lot of Jaune's willpower to keep himself under control, "We could go see the new Man-Spider movie? Oh! And there's a shop downtown, it has some new experimental MS tech stuff. Can we go see it? Please?"

"We can do whatever you want, Ruby." He chuckled, grinning widely at her excitement.

"Good." She nodded, grinning and resting her forehead against his comfortably, "Because I want more kisses from my new boyfriend."

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"Alright, so, this is a rather awkward meeting." Gnarl started, standing in front of the elevator's exit and looking up at the tall, silver haired man, "I know you don't like me anymore than I like you, or your oh so good little school."

"It is more than a simple school. Beacon Academy is the most prestigious Hunter Academy on the continent." Ozpin argued quietly, the low voice carrying just as much heat as if he'd been shouting the small, ancient Minion down. "You are at least correct in stating how I dislike you, though I would say you undersell it a touch."

"Whatever you say. Tell me, how much land have your 'Hunters' managed to secure again?" Gnarl asked, leaning forward and grinning toothily up at the man. Ozpin could only really scowl in response, folding his hands in front of him atop his cane. "Now, do you want to try and Magic measure, or do you want to help me find something useful for my Evil Lordship?"

"I want you to leave back to your Tower…"

"Ah, good, and you will do what against your little pest control problem then?" Ozpin sighed at the barbed question, the Minion chortling at how easy it was to nettle the old man. "As I thought. Now, we have much work ahead of us, so shall we get to it? Or would you prefer to squabble like the children you teach?"

"The sooner we begin, the sooner we finish." The old man said simply, turning and leading the man through the personal library in search of what could be useful in the fight against the White Fang. "I have many scrolls and tomes on armor enchantments Overlords in the past used. Young Mister Arc seems adept as he is. Perhaps those would be the most useful?"

"We will just have to see, I suppose." It would be a great start, really, augmenting and crafting better arms and armor for him. If he could find a weight reduction enchantment, that would let him wear heavier armor without losing any of his mobility. Or perhaps something to augment his physical strength? "We have much to do, Headmaster, so let's get it done. There's Evil that needs doing, and the White Fang happen to have volunteered themselves as first on the corpse pile."

"I regret this already…" The Minion just cackled in response to the Headmaster's words.

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Cinder returned to her dorm to find Emerald and Mercury, as per usual, at each other's throats. Arguing about something stupid until she slammed the door shut behind her and they flinched, glancing to her and then breaking away from each other, headed to their beds in opposite corners of the room before she could even order them there. Seated on their beds, Emerald straight backed and staring at the floor like a cowed child and Mercury leaning against the wall with a leg hanging comfortably, at least looked respectful enough and like they knew she didn't approve of their squabbling. They were children, immature and lacking, but at least they knew their place.

Neo, though, just sat on her own bed opposite Cinder's, legs crossed and blanket wrapped around her visibly snickering form.

"We have a new goal, one apparently more important than our previous one." She started simply, ignoring the needle-like gaze of Neo, following her as she walked to her bed. Sitting and making a show of crossing her legs, she met Neo's sharp, threatening gaze, and added, "And you have met him, I suspect. Based on what information I've managed to gather already, at least."

The small woman's hands flashed in front of her rapidly, forming signs and figures in easy, practiced motions that even Cinder struggled, if only just, to keep up with, "Who've I met that could be more important than whatever you've had us working on? And what about Roman? We aren't leaving him in Atlas' hands."

"Of course not." If only because of how thoroughly he could sell them out, if he were to discover her 'betrayal' as he would no doubt put it. "If this objective blocks us getting to our former one, then you will have complete leave to break him out. I won't raise a single word in protest against having a… Moderately useful asset working again."

Neo rolled her eyes, but signed a single question, "Where did I meet whoever this is?"

"At Mountain Glenn." The woman answered simply, smiling like a predator who'd caught the scent of wounded prey. "He wore a heavy gauntlet, clawed fingers and with a single, bright gem set into the back of the hand. According to the White Fang, he swept in, impaled a Faunus and then spewed fire from his weapon. Then he and young Ruby Rose simply… Vanished, into thin air."

"I remember." She signed simply.

"Tell me about him, please, young Neo." She asked politely, leaning forward with her hands on her lap. Of course, she knew Neo would remember. The girl was like a fly to honey when it came to a good fight against someone that could dish it back. The epitome of a sado-masochistic killer, so Cinder had to bait the trap just right for this particular fly. "I need to know what he can do, since we're going to capture him for my boss. She has… Questions for this young man, who she only referred to as ' the Overlord'."

"The hell kinda name is that…"

"The kind that has my mistress calling me personally to direct me to dealing with it." She snapped, turning hard eyes on the cyborg. He flinched under her gaze, and she added for effect, "Someone who wields the same kind of power, seemingly, as I do. Someone who can summon monsters of his own to fight for him. Does that answer your question, Mercury?"

"Y-Yes, Ma'am." He chirped back, face pale from her sudden ire. It was like he never learned…

"Good boy." She chirped back, sliding from cold and chiding to warm and coercive in the same breath. Effortless, for her, or at least she knew it would look like it. "Now, Neo, please. Anything you know that could help us when we end up fighting this… Overlord? Anything at all?"

"He had monsters with him, too." She signed quickly, eyes suddenly lighting up as though on fire. "Small, green things. They skittered around the room like spiders and leapt on the White Fang. Cut them up with their bare claws like it was nothing. Went down pretty easily, though, from what I saw."

Like a fly to honey.

"Uh, Ma'am?" Emerald started, voice layered in anxiety. Cinder looked to her and, taking that as an invitation, she said, "I saw someone with a gauntlet like that a couple days ago. Here, at Beacon."

"Oh? I see." Well, that's… Convenient, to say the very least. Still, Salem had said that the Overlord's abilities could threaten even her power. And that meant that her team was, to say the very least, not equipped to deal with them. "Very good, Emerald. Neo, please, find him and keep an eye on him. Subtly."

"I can do that." She signed with one hand, chin resting in the palm of the other. "You don't want me to attack him?"

"My… boss wants to make contact with him first. Attempt some manner of amenable contact, before attacking him. If his power could be brought around to our side..." She didn't fill in the gap, mostly because she would never be able to. She didn't know anything about him beyond what everyone here did. But the human mind could fill in the blanks well enough, she knew. "So, for now at least, shadow him. Find any routines he's established, let me know, get close to him, perhaps."

"And if he fails to see that we're the best choice, then you can do whatever you like with him." She saw the toothy grin spread across Neo's face and waved a hand at the door, smiling thinly herself. "Go on, I know you're eager to see our new… Person of interest."

The small woman leapt from the bed and was out the door a second later, no doubt intent to stalk the halls until she found him.

"Emerald, Mercury.." She said sharply, turning to look between the two children to either side of herself. "I believe there are two likely candidates for the old bastard to try and make the next Maiden. One of our bullheaded friend's moles in the Atlesian military told us that background checks have been run on Coco Adel, Blake Belladonna, Pyrrha Nikos, as if there'd be anything untoward there, Ruby Rose and Velvet Scarlatina. Go to each, spend some time with them, see if they have been called to a meeting with Ozpin."

Whichever was going to be the next Maiden, they needed to put a stop to it.

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	27. Chapter 27

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"Hey Jaune, how you doin' today?" Yang asked when he heard a knock and he made a grave mistake he only recognized when he opened it to the blonde. Holding a bag in one hand, smiling thinly, and resting the other on her cocked hip, he could already sense the 'Mama Bear' in her coming out. "Hear you have a date tonight, Jauney boy."

"I-I, uh, yeah." He coughed awkwardly, idly scanning either way in the still brightly lit hallway for any other students wandering around. It was still too early, he knew, for anyone to be out and about, classes going on for another hour yet before letting out for the day. "Shouldn't you, you know… Be in class right now?"

"Fun fact about the situation right now, you're a great excuse to ditch classes." She answered, shoving past him and striding into the room while her other hand phished out her Scroll and flicked it open, punching in a few buttons and showing it to him. "I got the Headmaster's number, now. And if we have somethin' to do with you, he doesn't mind us skippin'. Long as we do the makeup work Miss Goodwitch assigns us."

"This says you messaged him… An hour and a half ago?"

"Yep." She popped the 'p' brightly, tossing the black bag onto his bed and then plopping onto her father's, the one Ruby had borrowed the day before. He did his best to avoid watching what that bouncing around did to her anatomy, coughing awkwardly and flushing. "Went into Vale to get some stuff for you, told the old man that it was to help you blend in."

"Like?" He asked, pitching the phone back at her. With the skill borne of years of training in martial arts, the blonde's hand snapped out to catch it easily, as though it were an afterthought, and he tried not to envy her.

Or look up her skirt for that matter, with her laying the way she was, which had hime move to sit on his bed opposite her.

"I got three colors of hair dye for you, since everyone saw pictures of you when you, you know." She slashed a finger across her neck and crossed her eyes, a tongue stuck out for effect, and he snorted. Odd to laugh about a reference to his literal death, but it'd been a minute now and Ruby had helped him through it besides, so he hoped he was over it now. "Figure your hair's long now, past your shoulders, and that's different enough if we make it, like, black or something. And your face is leaner, too, plus you got that little scarr over your eye."

"I do?" He blinked, reaching up with his hand to touch both sides, finding and tracing a thin, smooth scar shaped like an arrowhead. "Huh. Never noticed I got that." He got hurt enough that little knicks didn't matter anymore, to him at least. "And I have stubble now, too, so that helps too. Right?"

"Yeah, shavin' that real fuckin' quick, you look like a peach." She smirked when he clicked his tongue and he knew that as serious as she was about it, it was as much to tease him as not. "Plus, my lil' sis always said she hated beards. So you don't want one of those, Ruby'll hate it."

"Shouldn't you be trying to not help me date your sister?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and scratching at the stubble protectively. He liked it! It made him look manly. The blonde woman gave him a look, an eyebrow raised questioningly, and he explained, "Your dad gave me a hard time yesterday, so I figured you'd both be trying to stop us, you know, dating."

"I mean, would prefer you not." She admitted with a sigh, blowing a wayward strand of hair out of her face and stretching out spread-eagled on the bed with a low, languid groan. "But, I mean, you know how it is. I'd prefer you hadn't run off to Atlas with her, that she hadn't gotten caught, that you hadn't died, and all the way up the chain. Lotta 'would prefer nah' situations out there, but I've learned to roll with it."

"That sounds… Sucky."

"Eh, that's life." She shrugged, grinning widely regardless of what she'd said. "Life sucks, Jaune. You would know."

"What do you mean?" He asked quietly, raising an eyebrow with the question and scooting back on the bed until his back met the wall. "I think I have it pretty good, all things considered, if someone asks."

"You literally died, Jaune." She pointed out dryly, which drew a sharp grimace from him. He did his best to hide it behind his hand, pretending to scratch at the side of his head, but the way she smirked victoriously told him how well that had worked out. "And honestly, at the point of you literally keeling over, I think normal rules on life stop mattering. Not that you don't have your bullshit. The Fang, for one."

Okay.

That was a set of really good points, he had to admit it.

"The White Fang won't be a problem for much longer, I can tell you that much for a fact." He vowed, and meant every word of it. "But… Yeah, you have a good point, I guess. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy. Stressed," he admitted with a small shake of his head and a sigh, "but happy regardless."

"'Cus of Ruby, right?" Yang asked, the blonde's sharp, blue eyes locking onto hers questioningly for a long second. Finally, he nodded, and the woman smiled a small smile he didn't understand. "Yeah, I figured… You know how she feels?"

"I do."

"Did she tell you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow innocuously. He watched her for a second, and she must have sensed his anxiety about this, because she grinned and waved a hand. "My dad got to play Papa Bear, I know that much. Sounded fun when he told me, gettin' to be all grumpy and stuff and play it up. I'm not about to do it too, though. Not just because he feels old now one of his little 'uns has a man to hang off o, at least."

"Okay…" He wasn't sure how he felt about that, mostly. Though the 'hanging off him' part was kind of true. Ruby was… Surprisingly physical. She wanted to hold hands, touch, kiss, cuddle and so on more than he'd have thought she would. "So he was Papa Bear, what does that make you?"

"Goldilocks." She answered quickly, grinning widely. "And I'm here to make sure you are just right for my little sis."

"I guess I can get behind that."

"Pfft, in your dreams, Lover Boy. And not while you're dating my sister, either, as nice as it is behind me." She remarked, the blonde feeling confused for a second before he flushed red and she laughed. "Hah! Your face… Priceless." He growled and she waved him off, still grinning widely, and asked, "So, did she tell you? Or are you just that smart?"

"No, I, uh, I don't even think she knows, really. Or maybe she doesn't realize it, yet, if Gnarl's actually right. And I'm too dense to really find out, plus… Distracted by things, you know." He finally said, waving a hand at the door and explaining, "Gnarl told me how she felt when I was out with Blake. I assume it's because I need to keep a good eye on her, with everything going on. If something happened to Ruby…"

"You'd snap?" He nodded and she whistled, reciprocating the solemn nod. "Yeah, I get that. And damn, I know I can go off the handle, but you? You fuck bitches up when you go off."

"I wasn't always like that…

"Hey, I like it. If someone hurts people you care about, you get to go off on 'em." She shrugged and made a face, the smile she offered awkward and unsure. "I mean, maybe not killing people, but hey. No one's perfect, and people push you to get that, yeah?"

"Yeah. You have to push me really hard for me to start killing, o-or I have to have no choice." It's not like he liked killing, or anything. Fighting, maybe, but killing? He was… Ambivalent about it, which was probably not good per se, but it was better than being a blood crazed killing machine. "I'm not a monster."

"Telling me or you?" She asked quietly, gently even, watching him quietly and reservedly when he looked to her. "Way you said it, sounded like you were trying to be convincing. But you weren't even looking at me, and you're holding that Gauntlet as far away as you can, considering it's literally attached."

"I…" He grimaced, pulling the limb back around to let the heavy thing sit in his lap. "So, uh, hair dye?"

"Changing the subject?"

"Very, very much so, yeah." He nodded, barking a short, harsh laugh and shaking his head. The woman across from him mirrored it and he sighed. "I don't want to think about all this… This shit before my first actual Evil damned date with Ruby."

"Fair." She nodded, sitting up and stretching her arms high into the air for a second before letting them flop down. "So, I got three colors for hair. A nice, dark red, a pitch as fuck black, and… Green." He gave her a look, and she grinned, pitching the third across the room at the trashcan. "So, I got two colors for hair."

"Which one, uh, which one you think would be the best for me?" He'd never dyed his hair before, partially because he liked blonde and partially because hi mom would have killed him, so he had no idea about it.

"Ugh, just like Ruby…" She sighed, rolled her eyes, and then pointed a finger at the door out into the hallway. "Across the hall, in my bathroom. I'll get you cleaned up for my sister and handle the dye, the last thing we need is you fucking up the dye."

"I can do it-"

"You can do what I said, before I go ahead and play the protective Mama Bear role like dad did." She challenged, eyebrows raised into her hairline and head cocked to the side. He held his hands up in surrender and stood, headed for the door and, beyond it, the RWBY dorm. "Yeah, that's right. I don't get to play the protective one, so I get to play matchmaker."

In the team's bathroom and shirtless, he finally took a second to actually examine himself in more detail. Unlike before, when he'd been fit but not built, the Gauntlet's power and his new lifestyle had done wonders for him. Now the paler skin was basically nothing but strong, sturdy muscle, as much to do with his exercise and diet - marching, fighting and hunting being about it aside from heavy construction with the Minions - positively covered in scars of a variety of types. He couldn't even remember some of the scars, like the three long, jagged, pink lines on his left breast, looking for all the world like claws. But when had something gotten him that bad?

He had no idea about those, to be sure, but the dozens of flared, roung, jagged, fiery scars dotted around his stomach and chest? Those he recognized pretty damn easily. And, leaning forward, he'd be damned if the one Yang had pointed out wasn't in fact there, pale and pink above his eye.

Huh.

"Damn, boy." Yang whistled when she joined him, looking him up and down jokingly when he turned to look at her. "You got fucked up, huh?"

"Yeah… Don't have an Aura, so I get hurt a lot." He'd need better armor, sooner or later, to say the very least and absolutely nothing else. Raising his Gauntlet, he summoned some Mana and made a little popping noise with it. "Trade off seems kinda worth it, though. No Aura, but you get an army that listens to your every whim and magic."

"Gotta die first though." She pointed out, tossing the bag onto the sink across from the shower stall and turning, reaching up to unhook it. "Call me crazy, I'm not looking to get offed on the off chance I get to come back as the Gremlin Queen."

"Fair."

"Yep, now get over here so I can get your hair damp and brush it, need to cut it back before we dye it." He nodded and they got to work.

Or rather, Yang got to work, he just had to sit still and grut yes or no when she asked him things... And try not to stare at her breasts when she stepped in front of him, leaning in to snip at his hair and trim it back.

Yeah, that was… Going to be a thing.

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"What did you find?" She asked when Neo - Noir she corrected herself - came in the door, bouncing on her heels and holding her Scroll in one hand. The woman smiled and Cinder returned it, cocking a hip for added measure, "Something good then, I take it? For dear Roman's sake, I should think so."

"Blondie got excused from class today and went to Vale. Came back with bags from a fashion store." Neo's Scroll spoke for her, reading out the words in an odd auto-tuned, female voice. Atlas' approximation of one, at the very least, made for people like Noir who couldn't speak for any number of reasons from birth defects to problematic Semblances. "I know the place. Good for dyes and clothes, if you like black, grey and blacker black. Roman hate sthe place, says it's too edgy."

"And our… Person of interest, this 'Overlord', he dressed in black when you saw him, correct?" Noir nodded, pigtails bobbing stupidly on the side of her head as she did, and Cinder smiled. "Hair dye means he's disguising himself… But why? If he takes the Gauntlet off he'd look like a normal person…"

"Maybe he's famous?" Noir offered, prancing over to Mercury's bed to steal his pillows and then going to hers to make a nest of them and nestle in.

"Perhaps, but I doubt it." It was unlikely, any kind of real celebrity alive would be known pretty quickly for commanding an army of Minions and wielding true magic. Not to mention her Mistress had implied that this Overlord had emerged only recently. Thinking, she began to pace, tapping a finger to her chin in time with the steps as she went. "A celebrity doesn't fit. Too much doesn't make sense. Why would an already extant celebrity hide his power? A Huntsman would be duly famous for commanding magic."

"Maybe it's not them being famous?" Noir tried, "Maybe it's then being recognizable in Vale and Beacon? And someone Little Red knows, too."

"We can't be sure of that." Cinder waved it off, shaking her head and sighing. "It's possible their connection, whatever it is, is only something that came about after he saved her. A grand reason for someone to be close to a person, that."

"Strangers don't dive in front of gun lines like that." Noir pointed out, the half-Maiden turning to her with a thin, elegant eyebrow raised. A clear question, but one that took a moment to answer, Noir typing away rapidly on her Scroll as she had to. "He roared when he saw the Grunts about to light the little girl up. Dove in like a man possessed, cut through some, lit a few on fire, and then didn't hesitate to take shots for her."

"Hm… I wouldn't put that behavior past some people I have met in my life, but…" Not many. That description reeked of passion only brought on by an investment into a person, by you knowing them. "Then I agree with you, Noir. The question becomes if they're a lover, a friend, or family."

"Already looked into that." She said quickly, Cinder tilting her head to the side and making a face to convey her being impressed. It was, after all, rather pragmatic of the smaller woman. "Ruby Rose's family is her dad, a man named Tai Yang who is here at Beacon, her uncle, Qrow Branwen, who's also here, and her sister. Guess where she is?"

"Accounted for." She answered dryly, out of spite to deny the little gremlin her fun. Petty, she knew, but she was allowed to be petty sometimes. "So not a family connection, though you should message Roman's contacts. I'll front the Lien to have some inquiries run on that, just to confirm it."

"So a friend or a lover." Noir remarked, "Though from the rumors, she hangs around him more than anyone else. And they shared a dorm last night."

"She's too young to have had a lover for long, if that term applies properly to those two." They could be making love nightly, she supposed internally, but the young Rose was far too innocent seeming for that. And neither father or sister had seemingly assaulted him, so she doubted that somehow. "If they are merely dating, then that makes some sense."

"I'll have people look into it." Noir promised after a second's silence, aside from the mechanical, annoying clicking of the digital keyboard on her Scroll. "But talkaround the school says she transferred in ahead of her old class. Two years or so, what most say."

"My, then she is young." Too young, likely, to get away with having had a boyfriend or lover since before her little mishap in Mountain Glenn. "Send a message to your contacts, Noir. I want information on the Rose family, I'll pay through the nose for it as well. And I want young Ruby's team's records from before Beacon."

"Got it."

"And one last thing." Cinder held up a finger, the mute blinking at her patiently. "I want to know all of her current friends, and which of them is missing. Whoever that is is probably this Overlord."

"What if I don't find anything?"

"Then we take Ruby, and ask her about it." Cinder answered simply, smiling predatorily at the smaller girl. "She has such pretty silver eyes… I'm sure you'd love gouging them out, wouldn't you?"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"You look… Better, I suppose." Weiss asked, first of the three RWBY members coming back from classes to arrive, when she saw him. "Too much black, though, I feel. Though I've a certain fondness for white, as you can see."

"Of course he does, I'm the one who picked everything out for him and did his hair." Yang chimed in from her bed, lounging in a pair of pajamas and flicking through her Scroll. "Also, not our fault that not everyone likes to look like a snowman wandering around the school."

The outfit Yang had picked was nice, if a bit simpler than he'd thought based off how she'd run to Vale to get it, and Yang's typical sense of flair.

Heavy boots, with steel toes no less, made of black leather and designed for heavy duty work with thick, equally heavy duty intentioned black cargo pants were the first things she'd tossed at him once he'd been done with the dye. They fit well and looked good, along with the off-black hoodie she'd brought for him, ending in sleeves that sealed around his wrists for added warmth. One side had, sadly, had to be cut back because of his Gauntlet, but as it turned out, Yang could sew really well. So she'd stitched the cuff to that spot, just above his elbow, to make it look better. His hair had, of course, been cut back and dyed from blonde to a stark, dark black, as short as when he'd first come to Beacon once again.

"I look like a high school edgelord." He finally said, the blonde groaning loudly at his description. He rolled his eyes and called back at her, "What? I do, don't I?"

"I mean, a bit, yeah." She admitted, Weiss snorting in amusement at the pain in Yang's voice there. And then, of course, very much pretending she hadn't made any such noise, poring over a book on her desk by the door. "In fairness, though, Edgy McEdgelord, you are a bit edgy now with the eeeeevil dark toooower of eeeevil."

He rolled his eyes and she snickered, adding, "And besides, I had to go opposite of blonde or it'd be obvious as hell. I was barely okay risking a hoodie, since you wore one when you got yeeted off the cliff."

"Okay, new rule everyone." He sighed, putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head. "We do not get to refer to my literal death as me getting yeeted off a cliff. Got it?"

"But you did…" Yang grumbled, looking at Weiss and waving a hand in the air like she was trying to fly with it, whispering, "Weiss! Back me up!"

"I will not do any backing up in any way regarding you, Brothers know you're like a cat. If I feed you once…" Weiss clicked her tongue and shook her head slightly, and Yang whined at her weakly. "And just like a cat, I am not your adopted mother. Do refrain from whining at me like I am."

"I'm telling Blake you made racist jokes about cats." She threatened halfheartedly, the Schnee rounding on her with a how scowl while Jaune, smirking in amusement, watched on.

"Do so and I shall tell Ruby you showered with the insufferable edgelord that is Jaune." Turning a wry smile on him, she asked coyly, "Oh, sorry, that would be John, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah, Mister Overlord?" Yang snickered, the former-blonde looking between them confusedly for a second.

"Why am I suddenly under attack?" He asked brightly, holding up both hands in mock surrender. "I didn't do anything! I surrender! Stop the attacks!"

"Nah, too much fun." Yang sighed, before finally sitting up and adding, "Oh, yeah, by the way. You were s'posed to meet Ruby at the docks five minutes ago, Lover Boy."

"For the love of all that is Evil, spike covered and- Agh!" He turned, rushing out the door, with the sounds of the two girls laughing behind him brightly as he rushed off to meet her. As he ran he called back, "Damn it, Yang!"

All in all, though, he could say the day had been a good one. One of many to come, he was sure, because nothing could get him down now.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"I believe that is plenty, don't you?" Ozpin asked, sounding strained and, if Gnarl wasn't mistaken, clutching his cane hard enough the metal protested.

"Hm…" The Head Minion hummed and turned, looking at the five heavy, brass capped cylinders that held ancient scrolls that would allow him to bring his master more elemental and augmenting enchantments. "I suppose so, possibly… Maybe. I'll think about it."

"I think that's quite enough, Gnarl." Ozpin pointed out, smiling stiffly and waving a hand at the table. "This will make your Master quite a bit more powerful, so I would call this a more than fair trade, all things considered."

"I suppose it is rather fair…" Gnarl had to admit it was, if he were to be truly honest about things. One of them would allow his Master's armor to be far more durable, and another would enhance his natural strength while he was wearing it as well by spades. Which, alone, would make him a nightmare to fight. "No one in their right mind could complain about this deal, truly. There's enough here to compensate us equitably for our time."

"Yes! Wonderful! Finally..." Ozpin clapped, smiling wider and letting out a breath of relief. "Then we can call him up here and see these transferred to your… Tower up in the frozen hellscape of Atlas' far frontier."

"Oh yes, it's quite fair." The Minion grinned and turned, leering up at the old Headmaster. "And, well, I don't know if you know this but… I'm afraid I am quite evil. So fair just isn't fair, for me, you understand."

"I'm going to lose my mind…"

"Now, now. I lost mine long ago, so rest assured, it's rather fun once you get used to it." The Minion assured him, smiling viciously all the while, "And ah, I'd say you are faring rather well, wouldn't you?"

Distantly, Glynda could swear, later, that she heard Ozpin crying and screaming. But no one else had, so she chalked it up to her imagination and moved on, wondering idly how the old, silver haired bastard was doing… Then deciding he was surely doing just fine, since he hadn't needed her for anything.

Surely.

"Now then, James." She smiled, the man sitting across her table from her and sipping at his martini awkwardly, blowing the umbrella out of his way every other second. Thankfully he seemed oblivious to the muted sparks that flickered off the side opposite him whenever it got settled, sending it rolling back against him when he tried to take a drink. "You were telling me about the… Amity security arrangements? And our seating arrangements as well?"

This was too much fun, so Ozpin would have to be fine.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	28. Chapter 28

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"That was crazy, and awesome, and-and crazy!" Ruby cheered as they left the theater a couple hours later, the small girl bouncing around the sidewalk excitedly as they walked away from the little theater, where Ruby had picked out her movie for them to watch, mostly alone and curled up near the back together.

Miming the guy from the movie spinning his spear around her neck she turned and beamed a bright smile at him, walking backwards away from her hooded company and letting the smile turn sheepish, "Sorry, Jau- John. I always get excited and bouncy after a good action movie, especially the new Rings and Prohpets series. S'just really close to me and Crescent Rose, you know?"

"I know." She'd told him a few times. Or, well, more than a few times if he was honest, when she'd been bouncing beside him like an over-caffeinated rabbit waiting for her ticket.

Pulling his black hood tighter around his head to ward off the cold - and stifling some envy in Ruby's direction, since her Aura helped with it, even though it didn't ward it off entirely - he added, "I told you already, Red, it doesn't bug me that you get over-excited. Just you being you."

"I hate that nickname, and you know that. Stop teasing me!" She responded with a faux-pout, earning a good natured snicker from him and a shrug, metal fingers drumming on his leg as they walked. Peopled passed by and looked at him, eyes snapping from his Gauntlet to his eyes, their own filled with judgement, and Ruby chimed in, "Ignore 'em."

"What?"

"They stares, just ignore them." She said, just a bit louder than necessary as an old man turned an anxious gaze on his jeweled appendage and she bounced in between them, cutting off the stare with her back and turning to walk beside him as they went.

All to keep herself between the man and him, to stop him staring at his arm or whatever was on his face.

"Hunters get used to it, growing up. Hunter culture makes people stand out, be unique, and normal people… They don't get it." She shook her head as they walked, headed towards the park and, past that after, to the Bullhead docks, to catch their ride back for the night. Bumping her arm against his, she added in a quiet voice, "So don't pay attention to them, okay? You're a Hunter now. Hunters get stared at. As part of the job as killing Grimm and using fancy weapons."

"I guess, yeah… Just takes some getting used to, I guess." Not a part of the whole life of a Huntsman that he'd particularly known about, going in to all this, but… He'd adapt to it at least half as well as he'd adapted to death. Stepping onto the path into the park, he spoke in a quieter voice, "I'm heading out for the mission from Oz tomorrow. Fight the White Fang outside the Walls, maybe try and figure out whatever they're planning."

"I know. You've told me about it." She answered quietly, watching the scenery pass by as they walked the circuit around the park's center, a great, massive oak visible over the tops of the younger, smaller trees anywhere in the park you were. In the dark, he caught bright, silver eyes glint as they turned towards him for a second, and Ruby asked, the beautiful orbs looking away as she did, "No secrets between us, and I like that."

"Yeah." He nodded with a small, satisfied smile at the simple idea. "No secrets. I like that."

"Good." She chirped, giving him a sidelong glance and asking, "So, since there's no secrets… Are you nervous?"

"A little, yeah." He flexed his Gauntlet and grimaced, feeling a spike of anxiety shoot through him. And then followed by iit, caused by it more like. He felt angry at himself for that anxiety, and the way he, for a second, reconsidered the 'no secrets' approach with Ruby. Which he quickly quashed, going on instead, "Gnarl said he had… Stuff for me that will make me stronger. But they… They're going to have guns, you know?"

"Do guns scare you?" She asked innocently, voice full of quiet concern. He nodded slightly, and he felt her hand grab his free one, the one not covered in armor, and tug him to a stop by a memorial bench, little iron plate in the center worn and rusted. Sitting on it, she pointed beside her meaningfully and grunted a short, sharp, "Sit please."

"Uh, sure thing." He shrugged, taking a seat on the weathered looking bench, a little brass nameplate he didn't pay any mind to in the middle. The girl turned, laying her head on his chest, and he chuckled as he put an arm around her shoulder to hold her, "You wanted cuddles before we head back, huh?"

"And to, you know, talk. Alone. No dad or Yang to… Help." She murmured, only as loud as she had to be so he could hear. The wind blew by and she shivered, her hands diving into the pouch on the front of his hoodie, but otherwise she ignored it. "I'm scared."

"Of the mission?" She nodded after a second and he hummed, sliding his hand up to play with her hair gently, and then waiting to see if she'd like it or not. She curled into him further, legs tucked up under his for warmth or closeness - or both, he guessed that was possible too - but didn't say anything so he went on. "I'll be fine, I promise. I'm stronger now than I was before, and I'll have your dad nearby out there. And the Minions, of course."

"But one shot, or-or several, and you could die out there, Jaune." She argued, sitting up beside him so she could look him in the eye, her own, now hard and narrow. Not out of fear, but instead out of something more complicated than that. Like fear and acceptance mixed together, and not in a way that was actually any good. "You don't have an Aura, and they have guns. Automatic, military, weapons."

"I have my magic." Injected Jaune weakly, hoping to assuage her fear and his in the same, flailing gesture.

"It didn't help last time." She pointed out, hands balled into fists on his stomach. Fists that shook slightly, he noticed. "Last time, you almost died."

"I know." He nodded, pulling her head back against his chest in the hope that she'd calm down a bit if he did. She didn't, so he added in a quiet voice, "I'll be careful."

"My mom said that to me, too, before she… Didn't come back." She murmured into his chest, voice tight with emotion. Stress, fear, and other things that made him happy and set and ache in his chest to hear at the same time. "There's a name on this bench from a Hunter that probably said the same thing, a-and another one back on Patch just like it for my mom, and she said she'd be careful too."

"...Shit." He sighed, hand on her shoulder rubbing small circles through the sweater she'd worn. Trying, and he knew he was only trying, to comfort her as best he could. Until, finally, he promised simply, "I won't die, Ruby. That's a fact."

"How do you know?" She asked quietly, sitting up next to him on the bench and looking into his eyes, faces so close together their noses almost touched. Smiling stiffly, disbelievingly, she went on, "How can you possibly know-"

He silenced her by stealing a sudden, deep kiss the way he knew she liked. The girl squeaked and tensed at the sudden closeness, enough he almost thought she'd push him away, before she finally melted into the affection and accepted the comfort in it. He held her there for a long moment before pulling back with a smile, the woman tense in his arms but unable to resist the affection he offered.

When he finally pulled away, she nearly followed after him, and he had to hold her back to ask in a quiet voice, "Because, Ruby, don't you know? The one rule I live by?"

"I... I don't think I- Oh." She blinked a couple times, eyelids fluttering as she realized what he meant and lips quirking with a small smile for a moment before she let the thin, anxious smile spread across her face. "An Arc always keeps his word. Right?"

"Exactly." He nodded, leaning in to give her another kiss, this one even more chaste than the first and far shorter, enough he caught the pout in her eyes when he pulled away. He raised his Gauntlet, wreathing it in Mana and sending the energy sparking along his fingers for her to watch in brilliant hues of blue, and added simply, "I have a girlfriend, power, and a throne to get back to, Ruby. I don't plan on dying yet, not a second time, and that is a promise that, as an Arc, I will just have to keep. Okay?"

"I…" He could still see the fear in her eyes, and feel it in the tenseness of her shoulders, but she nodded shortly instead of arguing and simply said. "Okay. I believe you, Jaune." She leaned up to give him a peck on the cheek, which somehow felt even sweeter than the kiss before, and added in a quieter tone, "When you come back… I have something to tell you. Okay?"

"S-Sure." He nodded, with a very good idea of what, exactly, she'd have to say. The thought sent thrills of fear and anticipation through him, turning the blue sparks red and orange, like ruddy fire. He extinguished them with a curling of his fist and smiled, "Now, let's get home, Ruby. I have a day tomorrow. Lots to do, you know?"

"Yeah, I know." She snickered before something caught her gaze and she blinked, flinching. At what he couldn't see, but before he could say anything she clung onto him and kicked off the bench, and his sight blurred for a few seconds before he felt the ground under his feet and staggered away, the girl between him and someone and far more stable, rose petals raining round them while she demanded, "What do you want? Neo, right?"

"Ruby?" He asked, summoning Mana to his Gauntlet and stepping up beside the girl who herself stood in an awkward, unsure boxer's stance. A facsimile of Yang's style, he could tell at a glance.

"She's Roman's partner." She said simply, clicking the pieces into place for him. With a snarl he made to step between them, sending Mana spiraling around them in a circle to ward off any shots from the diminutive girl, idly spinning a parasol on her shoulder but otherwise not moving. Before he could attack, Ruby added in a hushed tone, "Wait, Jaune. Let her answer the question."

"...Fine." He grunted, letting the Mana swirling around them die out, the fallen, orange leaves mixing with rose petals as they landed on the ground around them. With a point of the clawed thing on his arm, he added, "Try anything, and I will rip your throat out with my hands. You understand?"

She nodded and then took a step towards them and he tensed warily, before Ruby explained, "She's mute." He looked over her shoulder, and Ruby explained, "She never talked when they… Had me. Just made shapes with her fingers, an-and I think Roman mentioned that she couldn't talk, but I don't remember."

"Fine." He grunted for a second time, hard eyes turning on the woman in front of him. "Leave the umbrella over there though, I know Hunters and their… Bullshit weapons, so I won't fall for those kinds of tricks."

With a roll of her eyes, she turned and tossed the weapon a few feet behind her. It clattered heavily across the paving, and Jaune felt validated and justified to smirk when she turned back to him. The mute only offered another shake of her head, though, and approached with both hands held out, one with an… Envelope and the other with her Scroll in hand. He didn't like either of those but her her step in front of him and the smaller Rose just behind him and, when she held out the envelope to her, he let Ruby take it.

"From Roman." She explained, an electronic voice chiming in odd, autotuned words as she typed them. "Said if I saw a way out, I should take it."

"Out of what?" Ruby asked quietly, to which the woman simply pointed at the small envelope meaningfully. When the young woman looked back to the mute, she mimed opening it, and Ruby grimaced. "Fine, fine..."

"Well?" He asked after she'd opened it and had a few moments to read the contents. "What's up?"

"It says-"

"That she's decided not to behave." A voice intoned sharply, deep and angry sounding, from behind them. He turned as a man in black stepped out from behind a tree, wearing a white mask and smiling thinly in a vicious, animalistic nearly, way. Two horns suck out from his fiery hair and he bent his head, almost as though threatening to gore him with them, as he continued "I happen to be something of an expert, in women not behaving and doing what they're told."

"Who are you?" He asked, Mana burning within him from being held too long, without being allowed to either flow freely or lash out as it wanted. "Why are you here?"

"Who I am doesn't matter to either of you, Human." The man answered sharply, off hand resting on the sheath of his sword, under the guard and lower than it normally should be. Why, he couldn't tell. Not in this darkness, the park only barely lit by the occasional lamppost. "But since you asked, I'm here because I… Lost my cat, and she loves parks. Likes to sit in them and read."

"You, girl," he grunted with a wave at Ruby, Neo joining their trio on her other side now, a rapier in hand held warily in front of her, "might know her. Might be able to help me get her back, too, with a little motivation."

"Neo, get on Overlord's other side." Ruby ordered lowly, but no less sharp as his claws. The mute snapped mismatched eyes to the woman in confusion, and she snarled in a way that was very unlike Ruby, "Now. Trust me."

That seemed hard for the woman but, regardless, she stepped past them and came to stand on his other side, giving his razor sharp Gauntlet a wary look before turning her eyes back on the Faunus. The Faunus who, it seemed, was rather amused at their formation building in front of him, standing lazily with his sword-hip cocked and hand tight on the sheath. Mockingly so, even, like he didn't consider any of them even remotely threatening.

And that set a fire of fury in his gut, as he demanded, "What do you want?"

"Blake, eventually." He grunted simply, offering a shrug when the Overlord before him tensed and Ruby hissed in a breath of fears being confirmed. "But for that, I need a few things… Starting with the mute traitor's head, if you don't mind."

"Not happening, jerk." Ruby swore, and just like that Jaune channeled his Mana, sending wind swirling around them gently in a distraction veiled as a threat, and then ignored by the arrogant man in front of them. "You won't touch her without going through us."

"Convenient, since you are going to bring Blake to me." The Faunus smiled, a vicious look in a knowing, predatory sort of way. He'd seen it on Gnarl a few times, and could tell evil when he saw it. "I'll take her head to that woman, deal with that traitor Perinius, and leave him," he nodded at Jaune, flicking the sword with a thumb and baring the barest inch of red, "in a bush, and send a piece of you to the little runaway's room."

"Jaune?" Ruby whispered, quiet and afraid, "Are you ready?"

"No." The man interrupted lowly, sliding a leg back and moving his other hand to the handle of his sword at the ready. "None of you are ready.

"Gnarl will send Minions to watch over Perinius." He said, loud enough for the watching Gnarl to catch the message and, hopefully, send some protection for the Faunus. If this man was meaning to kill him for what he'd said to them, then it was unlikely he was lying about it. Louder, as though threatening their sudden opponent, he added, "Three's a lot to deal with, you know. Takes time."

"I'm fast." The man assured him, red on his clothes seeming to glow warningly. "Don't worry about that, Silver Eyes." He smiled then, as though realizing something, "Your eyes are pretty… Maybe I'll send one of those to my runaway."

"No," Jaune snarled, "you won't."

"Why not?" The Faunus asked, mocking him obviously. "Do you have a preference? Maybe a hand? A leg? I take requests, sometimes."

"You may be fast." The former blonde said as answer, smiling widely as he felt the familiar surge of Mana in his fist and around it, turning and bringing the armored limb back. "But most importantly? You're arrogant."

"I am?" He smiled and snorted a laugh, giving a derisive shake of his head, "If you say so… I guess there's no accounting for taste."

"Yes you are, and that just won't fly, buddy. Not at all." He grinned, spreading the sharp, armored fingers and coalescing the swirling Mana into his fist where the man couldn't see. "But for an idiot, you'll fly pretty good."

"What-" The man didn't get anything else out before Jaune sent Mana surging forward in an explosive ball of wind, haphazardly melded together by the mystical energy that swirled, the wind snapping up leaves, rocks, sticks and rose petals like shrapnel and carrying them with it as it went. Surprised but trained, the man shot forward faster, almost, than Jaune could see, sword whistling through the air to connect with the dense ball.

It detonated with a dull whump, and Jaune spun on his heel, armored had grabbing Ruby by her upper arm and bare on grabbing the stranger by the hilt of her sword as Mana once more surged, the reason he'd taken so long in preparing. The man behind them snarled in rage and he looked over his shoulder, a scythe of red cutting through the air towards him and the two girls.

He realized what it was with wide eyes, knowing that he needed another second to teleport them and knowing it wouldn't give him that. Seeing the attack coming and his panic, Ruby wrenched her hand free and leapt behind him, back pressed against his to keep the contact and let the magic work. The energy slammed into her a hair's breadth before he felt and saw the world spin around them, but he heard her scream regardless of her protective Aura and his teleportation.

"What the fuck?!" Tai shouted as they stumbled away from the door to his room, the man standing shirtless in the middle of the room, a hand lashing out to catch him and the strange woman on one side, and Ruby on the other. "What the fucking fuck?!"

Jaune pushed off the man and turned to look at Ruby and Neo scrambled away from them all, looking scared and confused. He didn't care though, seeing the blood washing down her back from her wound. The gash was large and steamed from the blow, from her shoulder and down across her chest, all the way to her hip on the opposite side from where it started. Her Aura sparked along it, fighting the damage, but she didn't move.

"Get help, damn it!" Tai ordered him, cradling the woman and turning her onto her back to lay her on the ground while the Overlord raised his Gauntlet and shouting Gnarl's name into it in a demand of the creature to do something. The door slammed open just as Tai demanded in a low snarl, "Who the fuck did this to her?"

"You!" Yang snarled, glaring daggers at the stranger huddled on his bed and storming towards her, "Did you do this, you half sized little bitch-"

"No!" He shouted as he stepped between them, catching Yang across his chest as she leapt. Angry and animalistic, she lashed out, a fist crushing into his chest and driving the wind from his lungs, turning his next sentence into a staggered slur, "Guy wif a sword. Red and horns." He coughed and fell aside, feeling the broken rib shift, but Weiss heard his words and caught the blonde in a glyph, black and swirling as it pulled her down and he added with an awkward wave towards her, "S'a friend."

"She teleports, she couldn't do this!" Weiss shouted, sliding in front of the bruiser who struggled on her knees, hair alight like a flame and eyes red as the energy that had done this. Weiss grabbed her face and hissed at the burning Aura, but held fast regardless and pressed her face close to Yang's to take up her field of vision. "Look at my eyes, Yang. Just like you used to, focus on me, not the problem. Okay? Breathe."

"Gah!" Yang snarled, shaking her head and heaving, but listening and staying where she was as the glyph flickered out. Finally, she pulled Weiss' hands away and looked at the red digits with renewed anger, snarling as she turned to Jaune where he leaned against the wall, armored hand clutching his wound while the other pulled at his hair in anxiety and pain, watching Ruby's bleeding slow. "The hell happened out there?"

"A guy with a red sword attack us." He repeated, this time clearer as he turned to look at Blake, kneeling beside Ruby with a towel dabbing around the edges of the wounds to catch the blood, hands moving mechanically as though on auto-pilot while she stared wide-eyed at the wound. "He wanted you, Blake. Why did he want you?"

"...Adam." She murmured, hands finally stilling as Ozpin arrived, slamming shoulder first into the wood of the door frame to stop himself, so fast he'd been running. The amber eyes woman turned an eye on the man and shook her head, "He's come for me… I never-"

"No matter right now, Miss Belladonna." He said, joining them in kneeling beside the downed woman and pressing a hand to her chest, between her breasts where the flesh had been seared and torn. "Miss Xiao Long, a fresh shirt. Miss Schee, Tai, outside, keep the students back and away, they must not see in her. Draft JNPR for the job, they are out there already."

"Got it." The two blondes answered at the same time, leaping for the door in their haste and nearly knocking aside his axe.

"Yes, Headmaster." Weiss added, moving to join the older man in blockading the door, pulling the thing shut in spite of its broken hinges while Blake staggered to Tai's bed in shock.

"Overl- Jaune," Ozpin amended, looking up at him with a small grimace of displeasure. "You don't have healing magic, but you have Mana to spare, correct?"

"Y-Yeah, I have plenty of it. And I can channel more, if I need to, I just have to rest, but..." He nodded, kneeling by the downed Rose as her Aura began to flicker around her, wounds still oozing blood and nearly bare chest fluttering weakly as it flickered around her. "I can't heal, damn it!"

"I can." The man assured him gently, meeting his eyes levelly, "But you have to trust me completely." He held out his hand, then, the one not on Ruby's chest, "I can siphon your Mana and heal her, but only if you let me take from you. I won't lie, the process is… Painful. Even in my time, the experts in it couldn't do this painlessly."

"I don't give a fuck." He snapped with a nod, "Just tell me what to do."

"Put your Gauntlet over my hand, on Miss Rose's chest." He instructed, Jaune quickly laying the armored appendage over the man's smaller hand. Like a viper, Ozpin lashed out and grabbed his free hand, smiling thinly, "Forgive me for this… I think you're a better man than I thought, and I don't like having to-"

"Just do it." He ordered, watching Ruby's face screw up in her unconscious state as her Aura finally gave out.

The pain started in his forearms, like a blazing fire set around his bones, and he had to grit his teeth not to do more than hiss in pain. Then it lanced up his arms and into his chest, feeling like fingers that closed around his heart and robbing him of his breath, and he couldn't just hiss anymore in the pain. Instead, he choked out the first of many sobs, the pain so great he couldn't even catch his breath to scream.

All he could do was sit there, burn, and let the tears flow. Tears that scorched angrily across his face, to match the tempest beginning to stir inside him.

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"Good morning, Master." Gnarl greeted him when he awoke in his bed back at the Tower, looking as displeased as he'd ever thought the creature could be capable of. "Must you continue trying so very hard to die?"

"Is Ruby-"

"She's fine, and at Beacon, Master. Recovering from her wound incredibly well, I rush to add, before you blood fling yourself from the Tower to get to her." He groaned and sat up, shaking off the heaviness he felt from sleeping for what felt like days, and Gnarl explained what he knew Jaune would demand to know, "The Headmaster, that old bastard, he siphoned most of your Mana for his magic. You had to be brought here to rest and recover, but you ought to be fine now."

"My strength?"

"Back up to where you were when you went on your date, Master." Gnarl assured him, offering a small flask of water. "You've been resting for a day only, now, and I do wonder what you will want to do now?"

"What else?" He asked, taking a sip of the cold water and letting it sit for a moment before growling, "I have a fight with the White Fang to get to, after all. I'm already late, and that just won't do. Did you get Minion to Perry?"

"Yes, but they were killed to the last." Gnarl reported uncaringly, "Along with your newest attempted adopted pet, I fear. By the same man that struck down your Mistress, I add with quite a bit of venom."

"A new target, then…" He murmured, throwing aside his blankets and standing over the Minion imperiously, "I need my armor, Gnarl."

"I would say some pants as well, Master. Evil's sake, that wasn't a sight I wanted to see." The Minion grumbled, shuffling away while Jaune looked down and realized how little he was wearing. He flushed and the Minion sighed, "Get dressed, Master, and head to the armory to get ready. We have vengeance to reap!"

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A new Overlord in Town.

AKA, Blake Has a Really, Really God Damn Bad Time.

I like Blake, I swear. This is just, for her, a really shitty part of this story. Just happens, sometimes, where circumstances shaft a character. I knew I wanted the White Fang to be a center point of conflict from the get go, but until later in the writing process, I didn't realize quite how slagged that left Blake.

So in lieu of early accusations of 'Jaune Bashin' let me assuage some fears. I'm not bashing Blake. Later on she'll have a much better day in this story, when the White Fang are largely dealt with. This is only temporary, and I apologize to any Blake fans rolling their eyes at her getting royally fucked.

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	29. Chapter 29

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"Revenge is a powerful motivator, Master. Good, sharp, and dark enough that the Heart will sing when you call on its powers to aid you in it." Gnarl said when he told him what he'd decided, leading the young Overlord into the bowels of the Tower once again. Raising a finger, the Minion went on, "But, the one downside is rather fatal. While it can keep you focused, it can keep you over focused. You understand how?"

"I focus too much on one thing, another can come up behind me and hurt me." Distractions were fatal, he understood that now. "I've learned that lesson now, Gnarl. I won't make it again, that's a promise."

"Oh boy, well, it looks like we're doing this now. Joy of joys, I do so love teenage melodrama." The Minion sighed and, confused, Jaune came to a stop several stairs above him. He opened his mouth to speak, mainly to explain in various ways how this was not melodrama, but the Minion held up a hand to tell him to wait and cut him off, "Don't argue, Master, you are seventeen going on Overlord, so being dramatic and fatalistic is part of both gigs. And this is most certainly melodrama."

"How?" He snapped, sounding as harsh as he felt with everything going on. "How is this melodrama? I think this is normal drama!"

"And that is?"

"My mistress was almost cut in half, Gnarl! And right in front of me!" He howled, the Minion smirking at something he'd said that, for a second, Jaune missed. The blonde blinked and made a sour face as he realized why, Gauntlet whistling through the air as his hand cut between them and he grunted, "Forget I said that. I meant girlfriend, not… Not that."

"Quite sure I know what you meant, Master." The Minion didn't elaborate on if that was what jaune said or not and instead turned away, headed down towards the Forge once again. "But surely you must know that this is in now way your fault, Master."

"I don't agree with that, Gnarl." He argued simply, crossing his arms over his chest, then realizing that made him look every part melodramatic teenager Gnarl said he was, and then left them there regardless. He was allowed to be a little petty, sometimes, surely. "I wasn't paying attention, I didn't… I didn't have my weapon, or my guard up."

"Oh yes, because you can be expected to live, eat, and breathe paranoia. Right, Master? I'm sure Mistress Rose will love living with that." The Head Minion chuckled darkly under his breath and added in a sarcastic, deprecating and pandering tone, "Evil's sake, he didn't even know what you are. He didn't even want you. He wanted her, and once again, not even for her. Who did he want again, Lordship?"

"Blake." He answered shortly, Gauntlet curling and uncurling on top of his bicep while he thought. While he remembered, trying to recall details after days of sleep and through the waves of emotion. "He wanted kill me, drag Neo to someone named 'Red' something, probably kill her for the Red woman, and then use Ruby to get Blake to come to him."

"Exactly." The Minion turned at the base of the stairs, grinning ferally up at him and asking, "And do you know what that means, beyond that it isn't your fault?"

"No."

"Guess, Master. Humor me and guess." The Minion ordered gently, stepping back so the Overlord could join him at the bottom of the stairs.

"It means… It means that..." He blinked, blue eyes blinking to green as yellow fire flickered through them and hued the irises differently to the Head Minion's amused, satisfied eyes. A gaze Jaune ignored entirely as he explained, "That this bastard doesn't know who I am, or what I am, any more than I know who he is. He doesn't know what he's started a fight with, doesn't know the hell about to come down on his head."

"Precisely, Master. And you have a way to find out everything about him thanks to him spilling about knowing the little kitty cat." The Head Minion seemed to purr the words, wringing wrinkled hands together excitedly and pleasedly, grinning his feral, toothy grin again. "Now, what say we do some preparing to bring that hell down? Hm?"

"How do you suggest we do that, Gnarl?" The little creature always had something in mind, some plane for him to go through to get what they wanted.

"Upgrades, Master. It isn't like you were going to run around in those rags we half assed to get you something to wear forever, after all." The Minion snarked, leading him out onto the Forge floor, the fires around them blazing brightly in their torch holders and braziers. Around the walkway metal flowed, molten and bright but silvery instead of the normal orange and red, and he stopped to look at it.

"This looks different, Gnarl." He called out, waving his ever-armored hand at it meaningfully and joining him on the center of the platform. "What is all this stuff?"

"Atlesian pure platinum grade Seer-Steel, mixed with synthesized Gravity Dust straight out of Atlesian military production factories." The Minion sounded proud and, just off what little he knew of Gravity Dust and platinum grade Seer-Steel, Jaune could understand that pride. And the excitement, too.

"What we can make out of this…" Jaune shook his head and snorted a small laugh, turning to look at the Minion with a raised eyebrow. "Gravity Dust, platinum grade Seer-Steel, that stuff is expensive. When did we get enough Lien to import something like that? And how did it even get here?"

"I had it delivered to Beacon and ser Shaun signed for it in my stead, then the spiders you… Found carried the crates back for me. All rather complicated, I assure you, Master, and you don't need to sweat the details." The Minion bowed at the waist with a theatrical flourish and smile, waving a hand behind himself like a jester. "Such is the life of the Head Minion of the Dark Tower. Holding for applause, as always."

"Uh huh." He didn't clap and stared at him for several seconds until finally, with a suffering sigh, the Minion straightened and Jaune pointed out. "You didn't say how we afforded it though, Gnarl. Where'd that kind of Lien even come from?"

"Well, I mean…" The creature smiled apologetically and shrugged small shoulders, cuckling when Jaune sighed and shook his head. "That old wizard gave us plenty of Lien, and even this didn't make a dent, Master."

"So not the point, Gnarl." The Minion shrugged and didn't argue, knowing what Jaune's point was well enough without needing to ask. And honestly, there wasn't a point in arguing it any more. The metal was more than just here, it was melted down and ready for use. No doubt it was infused with Mana now, too, and he was not about to send that back to Atlas. "Forget it, we have bigger problems. Now, the upgrades you mentioned?"

"An entirely new suit of armor, Master. Better runes, more magic inscribed on the weapon, the works. I even have a few new spell runes you can integrate into your arsenal, though I recommend keeping to what you know against a strong opponent." The Minion fanned his fingers in a theatrical way as he spoke and grinned, "All that is left is for you to… Redesign yourself. A new quest, such as it is, and a new set of equipment to see it through."

"I have just the design in mind, Gnarl." He grinned, leaning on his knuckles against the heavy table in the center of the platform. Mess with the bull… "You get the horns."

"Uh, master, you're talking to yourself." He sighed and turned an unamused gaze on the Minion who waved his hands in surrender and chuckled weakly, "I, uh, apologize, my majestic Master. I suppose I somewhat undercut your moment, huh?"

"A bit." He just rolled his eyes and sighed, "Let's just get to work."

Hours and hours passed as they worked, flying by rapidly while the changes to the armor's design were made, both big and small. The chainmail and plates shined, now, with a silvery hue and with an almost ethereal glow to them. The Mana, he knew, suffusing the metal and reacting when he sent more through it to power the Runes inscribed onto the insides of the plates and inscribed along the leather reinforcements. Hundreds of Runes in both, all doing two things. Reducing the armor's scale of weight, which had it feeling like he was wearing a basic chainmail shirt and little else, and reinforcing the material's durability.

The biggest change he'd demanded was a change to the front of his armor, replacing the light chainmail with heavier, layered plating under the tabard he always wore. A coat of plates set into heavy, thick, durable leather with inscriptions of reinforcement sewn along the insides, over the gambeson he would wear going forward. This one made of rich, soft cotton, layered protectively over it and twice as flexible given its higher quality. The gambeson, too, had runes inscribed into it, boosting his strength higher than any workout routine could take him. Letting him move faster, hit harder, and keep his stamina while he did it.

His helmet had been redesigned too, replaced with a mail coif that fell over his neck and the to of his shoulders. Simple, like before but made of the newer, stronger metal now and set over an arming cap made of soft, padded cloth. The outside of the helmet was designed with a gentle cone shape that ran up the crown of his head and smooth, a smooth, gently sloping with his head back and sides. The front had a simple, gentle 'V' visor and a dozen holes smaller than his pinky - or most bullets, conveniently - to let him breathe. Above the visor, attached to the part that could lift up, were two dark red horns no more than an inch long, colored to stand out from his black armor and make a point over who he was after.

He'd also added a thinner cloak, one he could wear anywhere without worrying about it, with one of the last runes that Gnarl had been allowed to bring back to the Tower.

"Are you sure?" Blake asked quietly, voice cracking a little where she stood across from him, Gambol Shroud in her hand. "I-I don't want to hurt anyone any more than I already-"

"Just do it, Blake." He barked, ignoring what she'd said for the moment and standing ready with his cloak gripped in the talons of his Gauntlet readily, hanging down like curtains. "If this doesn't work against a pistol then I need to damn well know before I go out there to fight people with assault rifles."

"Okay." She nodded, raising the weapon and taking a breath, anxiety vanishing as the weapon leveled itself on the center of his mass. He nodded to her reassuringly, to tell her he knew everything would be fine, and she returned the gesture. "H-Here goes nothing, then, Jaune."

Three loud cracks split the air in the seconds that followed, the rounds soaring straight and true to the center of his cape. He saw them smack into it with all the force of an air pistol, the rounds falling with little clinks along the stone of the Forge and rolling away harmlessly after a few seconds. With his other hand he turned the cape in his hand to look at the other side of the velveteen cloth and grinned, not even a single scar adorning it.

"Perfect, it works just like I hoped it would." And he hadn't even had to get shot testing it, either. He grinned at that, turning to his guest with a wide, toothy grin plastered across his face. "Now I'm ready to fight the White Fang. Or, I'm just about ready, at least. I just need your help."

"My help got Perinius killed, Jaune." She swallowed, returning her weapon to the back of her combat uniform with a grimace. One arm reaching across her, she gripped the other tightly and stared at the bubbling metal flowing around the Forge. "Perinius died for trusting me, Ruby almost died… I'm beginning to think I'm a hazard zone."

"Don't worry, Blake." He offered gently, walking towards the armor table beyond her and stopping to lay a hand on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly, "I'll deal with it. I promise you that, and an Arc never breaks his word, so you can count on it."

"But-"

"I won't tell you not to blame yourself, Blake. That would be hypocritical of me, I can't let go of not being able to protect Ruby either." He added, letting his human hand fall to his side and letting the smile fall with it, looking ahead at his new helmet and new, polished wolf head shoulder-guard. "But that's why you're here, isn't it? The guilt, and me not going to see her yet, I mean. Beyond me sending a Green to ask you to come."

"S-She misses you, Jaune." The woman responded, ignoring his accusation of her feeling guilty entirely.

"I'll go back soon, when I can protect her better." He answered quietly, walking away from the Faunus while she trailed behind. Stopping in front of the table he reached out for his new helmet and asked, running his fingers over the smooth front gently, almost caressing it, "You know who attacked us, right?"

"Yeah, I…" She shivered behind him and sighed, "I told everyone about Adam already, back at Beacon. Your team and mine."

"Tell me about it, Blake." He said quietly, putting the plated helmet on and closing the front before he turned to her, head inclined to show his new horns. "Once I know what I'm up against, I'll solve both our problems. Permanently."

"I… His name is Adam Taurus, he's my- He was my friend." She started, staring down at the bubbling, molten metal while she spoke. A small, wistful smile cracked her strained, baggy-eyed visage, and she went on, "When I was little, I got caught in a protest in Atlas. Bit a soldier, and they were going to… Brand me."

"Brand you?"

"The soldiers were SDC security goons. Thugs with uniforms, rifles and little tin badges that 'supplemented' actual military forces when the Faunus 'acted up'. They call us animals, so they figured they'd… Mark the misbehaving ones." She explained in preamble, turning to see that he'd understood before, with a wan, pained smile, turning back to gazing at the hot metal around them. "Adam saw them dragging me away, just a little girl… He was already with the Fang by then, fourteen years old to my ten."

"He dove in." He guessed, feeling his estimation of his target rise ever so slightly when she nodded. "I see… What happened next?"

"He grabbed a baton one of the soldier's had, rammed his horns into his arm to get it free, and came after me. Broke one's wrist and screamed at me to run." She finished with a small grimace, hands trembling at her side while she paused for breath.

More to steady herself, he could tell by how her eyes closed and shoulders straightened. "I did… Straight through the crowd and to my dad. The last thing I saw of him for days was the soldiers beating him down… I can still hear him screaming and the batons landing."

"Later, after I pressured him, my dad found out who it was for me. And took me to meet him- I wanted to thank him, you know?" He nodded understandingly but didn't speak, afraid he'd break Blake's line of speech and make her clam up.

Something he knew she did, at least from what Ruby said, when she got particularly stressed. And something he couldn't afford. "They'd beaten him so badly, he needed to… Sienna, one of our Huntress allies, she had to unlock his Aura to save his life. And they'd branded him, big letters right over his eye. S. D. C. It blinded him in that eye!"

"Which eye?"

"H-Huh?" She blinked and looked to him before, in a quieter voice, answering, "His left eye. Some of the sight came back, after a couple years, but nothing more than… Shapes and movement, really."

"Hm." It was a sob story, that was definitely true, and part of him pitied the man for it. He'd been through hell, but… "I understand, but I hope you understand that I don't care, Blake. He hurt Ruby, and he will suffer for that."

"I know, even if I still… I know what you're going to do, and I-" She cut off in a small choking sound and swallowed, a tear breaking from one eye before she could turn away from him. "W-Will that be all, Overlord?"

"No." Much as he wished it could be, right now. He hated seeing a pretty girl cry… It had always been a weakness of his. "I need to know how his Semblance works, and how to lure him out so I can kill him."

"His Semblance lets him absorb energy of any kind into his sword and store it, to unleash whenever he wants to." She explained simply, taking a deep breath and turning to look at him. Her eyes were red and he saw tear tracks where her makeup had been made to run, but her eyes were hard amber orbs set into her skull regardless. "And there's only one way to lure him out, Jaune. You need the a trap, and the perfect bait for it."

He didn't like it, and knew Ruby would like it less, but… She was right, he needed a trap to catch the man.

"What's your plan?" He asked simply, watching a half dozen Minions come in from one of the side passages that led into the forge, carrying his freshly reforged pole-axe over their shoulders.

"We'll need someone strong that Adam won't recognize." She started simply, "Someone that could, reasonably, have captured me. He'll recognize your Gauntlet."

"I know just the guys for this, Blake." He nodded, striding past her once more to retrieve his axe from his eager servants, letting the newborn weapon's sharp base bite into the stone below him loudly and meaningfully. "I need to talk to Qrow and Tai."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"So, what you're saying is, you need us," Qrow grunted, sitting in the upper floor of a bar overlooking the bottom, legs propped up on the table while he sipped from his flask and waved a hand between himself and an agitated looking Tai next to him, "to go behind Oz' back, pretend to want to turn your little Faunus friend over to the Fang for some rumored bounty, so you can get payback for what the fucker did to Ruby. 'Bout right?"

"So we can get revenge." He pointed out, metal claw tapping impatiently on the wooden table between them while Blake stared into a mug of water anxiously. "Other than that, yeah. You have it right."

"You know him?" Tai asked, meeting Blake's eyes when she glanced up at him. The woman didn't speak, instead only nodding curtly, and he settled his Gauntleted hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "We'll have to take him down hard, with a Semblance like that. He almost cut Ruby in half, with her Aura up."

"You go low and front, I go high." Qrow grunted, making a 'snip' motion with two fingers and sneering, "Bird and the Dragon'll meet in the middle, eh? Then our Bull here," Qrow snorted and waved a hand at him, calling attention to his new horns, "comes in to be the muscle behind the attack. He can wait on a roof nearby."

"My Minions will be around too to-"

"Nuh uh." Qrow snapped quickly, waving a finger at him tauntingly, like a parent might at a child. He bristled but held his tongue to see what the man would say, though his Gauntlet slammed down quietly before he could catch it. "Sheesh, kid. Mellow out. Anyway, we don't want your lil' gremlins there. He might catch a whiff of 'em and bolt."

"The Greens don't smell that bad…"

"Metaphorically, John." Tai sighed, arms crossed and glaring at his fellow blonde. Or not at him, rather, and instead through him. Like his mind was elsewhere entirely. "Having a guy on backup in case something gets tried is reasonable, and Qrow can… Blend in. But if he sees your Minions skulking around?"

"He'll run for it." Blake supplied, the blonde grumbling but nodding regardless. "He'll have back up, too. Banesaw's in town, Perinius told me before he… Adam trusts him explicitly. Something like this, he'll be there too."

"Then I take him." Qrow snapped his fingers, then pointed at Jaune, "You get to handle the Bull with Tai until I'm done with him."

"Now we just need to decide how we're taking him down." Tai added, looking at the younger blonde again and raising an eyebrow. "You have any ideas? I don't care as long as the guy that hurt my baby goes down, but you have… Habits."

"I have a few, yeah." He nodded, lighting up a rune carved into the back of his free glove and summing his axe to him with a muted pop sound. Sending Mana through it, he set Mana turned to lightning spark along his weapon. "I'll stun him with this through his Aura, get my hands on him, and then…" He raised his Gauntlet and sent Mana through it, the fangs of his wolf glowing mutedly in the gloom while fire danced along his clawed fingers, "I'll burn the life out of him."

"...Damn, kid." Qrow murmured, taking a swig of his flask and turning to Tai while the flames flickered out and Jaune sighed, "Hey, uh, lookin' at that… Are we the baddies?"

"What? Of course not." The blonde waved him off and stood, shaking his head and asking with a cocked hip, "Why would you think we are the baddies?"

"I mean, just look at us. Look at him!" Qrow grunted, waving a hand at the unamused Arc across from him. "Black, spikes, a trap for revenge… Just sayin', we look like the baddies, Tai."

"When is this going down, kid?" Tai asked, looking to Jaune with the question and raising an eyebrow. "And when are you going to visit Ruby at Beacon? She's sulking, thinks you're mad at her or something."

"When Adam is dead, I'm going to go see her. Once I've made up for my mistake." Tai frowned but must have seen something in his face because he just nodded understandingly and murmured an 'Okay, I got it.' "I want to do this tomorrow night, if that's even possible. Qrow?"

"Sooner the better, yeah." The man grunted and stood, popping his neck, the wet popping accenting his every word as he spoke, "I know a guy, can get the word to him. Probably, I mean. I'll text Tai the meetup spot with the bastard and we'll get him."

Standing and flicking his visor closed, the blonde nodded and grunted, "I'll be waiting, then. Blake, what will you do?"

"I'll wait with you." She answered quietly, "The cave will do, even if it'll be boring. Or the Tower, it's about as far away as the cave, sort of."

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"You know…" Ruby swallowed anxiously and, careful of her still bandaged side, sat down with the tray of food she'd brought. A full pizza for two, split over as many plates and sat on a little steel tray resting on her knees. "You can come out of here, Neo. Yang promised she wouldn't hit you."

Neo blinked at her a couple times, a single eyebrow slowly raising where she sat on the bed opposite her, wrapped in both her dad and Jaune's blankets and surrounded by their pillows.

"A-Again, I mean." Ruby added nervously with a small smile, waving her hands in front of herself warily. "She, uh, she promised to not hit you again. I made her, a-and I'm team leader, so she has to listen to me!"

The other eyebrow rose and Ruby sighed, holding out a plate of pizza for her that the small woman plucked away in dainty fingers instantly. With one hand she tore into the food, the other typing away on her Scroll dexterously, "Where's your boy toy go?"

"He's probably getting ready to go after that guy, Adam." She shrugged, smiling pleasantly while she plucked pepperoni slices off her slice of pizza and popped them into her mouth, "He'll get ready, come up with a plan, and then rip his frickin' head off. Seen him do it a good… Four times, I think?"

"He's killed people?" Neo asked, surprised at the implications of what Ruby had said. That surprise doubled when the girl simply nodded, and she typed out another message, "And you're okay with that?"

"Yep." She nodded simply, smiling around a slice of pizza in front of her mouth. "He kills bad people, I kill Grimm. We're both just… Killing monsters. And once Jaune kills this one, he'll come back to me and we'll go on another date."

Neo blinked owlishly and made a mental note to not piss off 'Jaune' if he somehow managed to kill Adam freaking Taurus. Quietly, she took another bite of her pizza and let the little Huntress wannabe ramble about her classes that day.

Her rambling was boring, but between the blondie and the other blondie, Neo didn't want to upset her. Which was… Probably a good life choice, really.

Instead, she typed out a message and asked, "What about Roman?"

"Ah, he, uh…" She smiled sheepishly and shrugged, tossing another pepperoni int her mouth and grinning brightly at her. "Ironwood said he'd let him know that your letter got through. Now it's up to Jaune what happens, really. Don't worry, I'll put in a good word for you, since we're friends now."

They were friends now? This was the weirdest girl... She shrugged and ignored it, asking, "What's the best case?"

"I make Jaune make Ozpin let you come and live in the Tower. I mean, there's only the one real room, but…" She shrugged, "We'll just build some more for you and Roman to stay in. Since, you know… You're gonna be good guys now."

Both Neo's eyebrows shot up at that and she tilted her head to the side.

"Or," Ruby started with a small, knowing, cocky smile that had Neo pouting in return, "you could go to jail? Er, stay in jail, in Roman's case, I guess. But there you go, if you, you know, prefer that."

She waved her hands in front of her in reaction to that and the other woman laughed brightly at her, shaking her head when Neo sat back and started eating her pizza with both hands.

This girl was ridiculous… But she'd bare with it for Roman's sake, if nothing else. There's nothing she wouldn't do for him, if he asked.

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"Oh hi, Schnee. How are you this… Er, evening? Afternoon? Sorry, time is weird without the sun, you know?" The insufferable, grandstanding thief sneered when his cell door whirred open, the militaristic Schnee daughter standing with a tray of food in one hand and the other behind her waist. "Do me the favor, sweetheart?"

"One, I am not your sweetheart." She grunted simply, turning and giving the soldier standing guard by his cell a dismissive nod. He blinked in surprise, rifle lowering slightly, and she sighed, "The General's orders, Sergeant. I need a private word with him, and he needs to eat besides. Take a walk, get some air."

"Yes, Ma'am. I'll be down the hall, just yell and I can be here in a minute." The soldier snapped a salute and turned, striding away purposefully. Possibly in the hopes that she wouldn't call him back and order him to stand guard more.

"It's cute he thinks that if I could beat you he could do anything." Roman snarked as she stepped into the cell and the door clanged shut, the man leaning back before her bust could brush against him in the confined space and holding his hands up in surrender, leaning back and away from her like she had the bloody plague. "U-Uh, listen, whatever you're doing, I am not into… Well, uh-"

"Shut up before I leave you without your meal, Torchwick." She sighed, pulling the now wrinkled and weathered letter out of a jacket pocket, shoving the tray of potatoes and pork slices into his chest and leaning away from him, against the door. He spared the food a glance and then set it aside, looking at the envelope instead while she spoke, "This was delivered to an… Asset of the god General's, so to speak. Do you know what it is?"

"Well it looks like a letter-"

"If you want to joke around, I will leave, and you will get nothing from anyone to help you." She snapped at him, partially from her anger at even having to approach him like this and partially from needing to be in such proximity. They couldn't talk in the open, after all, where any patrolling soldier might see or hear. "Now I'll ask again, what is this letter?"

"I wrote it to Little Red, told Neo to take it to her. You got that, so guess you know about her…" The woman nodded and Roman sighed, wringing his hands together in sudden anxiety. "Look, I'm a crook. Okay? I steal to get by for a lotta reasons you won't care about."

"Correct."

"But I am not, and I mean this, I am not a damn terrorist." He spoke quietly, bright eyes staring up into the Schnee's own. Pointing to where he thought Vale was, he went on, "I love my Kingdom existing, even if I rob it. And it's where my little girl lives, too, if you don't buy that."

"You have a daughter?" Winter asked, sounding… Surprised for a second before her understanding dawned on her face, "Ah. The girl, Neopolitan. She's your daughter, then? We didn't know you'd gotten a woman."

"Didn't." He shrugged simply, "Not into that kinda stuff, either, before you get any ideas about seven minutes in prison."

"You insufferable-"

"I found her under a bridge a few years back, she was… Well, she didn't know, but I decided on fifteen since she looked it." He shrugged, the Schnee falling quiet at the confession while the criminal watched her. Reading her body movements and reactions, trying to gauge what she thought about what he was saying. "Took her in, explained to her I didn't want her in my bed a few dozen times, and… Adopted her."

"There's no papers…"

"Because I could get an agency to run an adoption for me, right?" He snorted and sighed, lacing his fingers behind his head to relax a bit. She was hard to read but he knew she was listening, even if her military edge held out against his sharp eye. "It's unofficial, yeah, but I trust someone like you understands how little paperwork matters when it comes to family. Right, Heiress?"

"Point made, Torchwick." She answered in a low voice, and he knew that had gotten the reaction he wanted. With a shake of her head she went on in the same strained voice, "I suppose this does mean that the girl isn't making this up after your arrest, to find an excuse to get the General's ally to want to help you…"

"Wait, what is that supposed to-"

"Good day, Torchwick." The woman turned as the door opened, Huntress balance and dexterity preventing her from falling and instead letting her turn it into an elegant, easy turn. She hesitated there, a hand on the edge of the cell door to keep it open, before finally asking, "Do you want me to deliver a message to your daughter?"

"You have her?" He felt his stomach plummet at the implication, and it must have shown on his face because she turned to him and shook her head.

"No, no, she's at Beacon. Safe, secure and under the protection, albeit only implicitly right now, of an ally of Atlas at the moment." She offered him a small smile, somehow seeming more tender than he'd thought possible from the frigid woman, and asked, "So, is there something you'd like to have delivered to her?"

"Nah… Nah, she's fine." He waved her off and, with a curt nod, the woman moved her hand and the door slid shut. Reaching for his potatoes, the man whistled, "So, that's a thing, then… What the hell did you get into, Neo?"

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"You're sure about this, Birdman? It's dark out here, and I can't see in the dark." Tai asked quietly, wearing a thick, dark hoodie with the hood drawn up over his head and one of his hands in the pocket, the other holding the ropes that had been 'tied' around Blake's arms and waist, or at least looked like they were.

In reality, they were just wrapped, and she could pull free easily enough.

"Yeah, 'course you can't. That's why the Fang picked this spot out for the hand over." Qrow answered, somewhere further away while he waited until someone showed. Unlike them, he wasn't even in the industrial district, instead loitering in his hotel room on the balcony until they told him to fly over. "You're blind as can be in the city, but they can see. So you try somethin' and we'll be at a disadvantage."

"I could start a fire for light, if you want." Jaune offered jokingly, Mana surging up and down his body like the Tower Heart's pulse. In sync with his own, and racing like it, as though in anticipation of the coming fight. "Might burn the warehouses down, though."

"No burning down the warehouse district, Goblin Cuddler." Tai sighed, shaking his head tiredly, visible even from where Jaune sat a few buildings back, leaning against an air conditioning unit. "Keep your eyes open as you can, alright? You're my backup, after all."

It was dark like Tai had complained about a few times already and, of course, Qrow's contact had arranged for them to meet in the warehouse district. Apparently, even with as badly as the bastard wanted Blake, the White Fang's leadership still wasn't stupid. Not enough to go wandering off into the forest or Vale on some random person's words, only to get caught up in a police ambush or something, at the very least. Even now, he was sure that they expected police sirens and an Atlesian ambush.

With a small smile, he drummed his fingers along his freshly minted axe.

"I see a car. Birdman, get in the air and head over. Goblin Cuddler, get ready." Tai ordered, the group staying silent instead of responding. Less than a minute passed and a sedan pulled up, turning one side away from the blonde and his 'captive', Blake. The door opened and he caught a glimpse of red hair and scowled, starting to stand before he felt something land on his shoulder.

"Maybe don't do that." He turned to look up at a woman with dark skin covered in intermittent scales that, had they not been glowing an angry red, would have looked like freckles to him. She smiled sourly under her Fang mask and raised her rapier, "Did you think you could hide up here? You're lookout, right?"

"And if I am?" He asked shortly, buying time and surging more Mana through his Gauntlet to prepare. "What happens then?"

"I sit with you, we wait out the handover, you all get paid." She shrugged and gave the group on the ground a nod, Taurus sneering and shaking his head while he looked over Blake and the massive form of what had to be Banesaw lumbered back and forth behind him, huge chainsaw resting on his shoulder. "Not a bad deal, is it, Human?"

"Not if I was here for the Lien, no." He smiled, spinning on his heel before she could react and driving his Gauntlet into her stomach hard enough that her cry of warning came out a strangled grunt instead and she staggered back.

Turning, he brought his axe towards her shoulder and she dove, rolling and coughing across the rooftop for cover, her weapon extending from sword to whip and lashing out before he could blink. The blow caught across his helmet and jerked his head to the side, the rest of the surprised blonde going with it for a short, before he caught a glimpse of movement and felt the woman leap onto him, legs locking around his left shoulder and arms around his Gauntlet, the woman swinging towards the ground and using her weight to drag him down.

Or try to, rather, his enhanced strength making even her weight inconsequential now.

Instead he turned and swung his arm with her on it, slamming her back against the ventilation he'd sat against for so long and caving it in with the loud sound of metal shearing. The woman cried out in shock and pain, Aura flaring at the last second but unable to absorb the force of the blow and negate the feeling of it so late. The blonde hurled his axe back and away, towards where he heard a chainsaw revving, and brought his less armored fist across her jaw once and then twice, splitting her lip and breaking her grip so he could rise.

Unfazed by the blood the woman rolled out of the Faunus shaped dent in the metal and landed at his feet, and then rolled onto her back and launched both her feet up and into his stomach. The hit didn't hurt at all, but the force of it did unsteady him and push him away, which was what the woman wanted. Using the same movement as her kick she rolled onto her hands and pushed off the ground, vaulting up and on top of the ventilation elegantly and wiping the back of her arm across her lip to clear the blood.

Again her whip-sword lashed out, aiming for his left arm, where it coiled around him and electrified. The volts surged up his arm and he cried out, instinctively calling Mana to his Gauntlet and using a concussive burst to make the woman stagger ever so slightly and make her let up on the electricity. Now, connected by the sword, he called on the teleportation rune on his axe and moved them both, the blonde more than used to the nausea and sudden loss of his center of gravity to compensate for it.

The woman, though, dropped from where her perch had been and landed on her knees, gagging on the sudden nausea. He seized the moment and closed with her, Gauntlet wrapping around her throat while he smiled.

"One White Fang down." He murmured happily, before the lightning arced out of is Gauntlet and across her body, the woman screaming shrilly where she hung and spasmed. Sneering, he added in a haughty voice, turning on his side of the street to show the White Fang fighting Tai and Qrow his writhing, captured prize, "Never ambush an Overlord, White Fang! This is the result!"

He threw the unconscious woman to the ground, the electricity too strong to have been blocked by her Aura for more than a second, and raised his axe to bring it down on her neck before he heard Blake call out to him.

"No, Ilia!" He hesitated and met the woman's eyes, wide and glowing in the night, and she shook her head, barely audible over the four other men fighting. "Not her, no, please."

He spared the unconscious woman a glance, fingers curling and uncurling on his axe, and finally snarled, "Ragh! Blake, tie her up, and make the knots tight. She's your responsibility, so get her to the Tower. Understood?"

"Y-Yes, Overlord!" The Faunus took the long way around the fight, back the way she'd walked and then forward, to get to them. He waited until she'd hogtied the woman and then turned towards the fighting proper, smiling while the woman fireman carried her unconscious… Friend away.

"Adam. Taurus." He barked, the sword wielding man ducking back from a hook Tai threw and dancing away, turning to give him a flat look. Jaune levelled his axe at him and bowed his head, showing his fake metal horns, and spoke simply, "I'm going to replace these fakes with the real ones before the night is out."

The man must have been surprised because his mouth gaped slightly before he managed to catch himself and sneer, "Ah, I recognize your gauntlet now. That was a lot of blood… How is your little girlfriend?"

"Just fine." Jaune shrugged, "Your little fireworks show was nothing compared to the power of the Overlord." Levelling his axe at the Faunus, he told Tai, "Help Qrow deal with Banesaw, Tai. This bastard's head is mine."

"Sure, I guess. Long as he eats a fist or three, I don't mind who feeds it to him." The man shrugged, sliding to Jaune's side and using him like a shield to back away and turn to join Qrow against the other man, both holding back and trying not to kill him.

They, at least, weren't out for blood.

"Those two aren't killing, even if they get the chance." Adam observed, slamming his sword into its sheath and turning, hand hovering over the hilt. "They are Huntsman. You, though, were about to take Ilia's head off. What are you?"

"An Overlord." He answered simply, rolling his shoulders and grabbing his axe with both hands, holding it out like a pikeman. "Let me show you the difference."

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	30. Chapter 30

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So.

We are going to ignore the spelling and grammar errors from last chapter, which were more egregious than either I or my betas usually permit. With the shutdown of G+ I noticed glitches for several days after, so I am chalking it up to that.

Because I am a bitch like that.

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That's because I didn't beta the previous chapter ;) ~Voltegeist

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With a crack like thunder, Adam's sword shot forth from its sheath, the former-blonde Overlord staggering back as it struck his chest with enough force that, while it didn't hurt much, still managed to stagger him. Adam followed in a flash of black and red, catching his sword as it bounced through the air off of his armored chest with practiced ease, turning the edge of the blade towards him and swinging wide and powerfully straight across his torso.

But Jaune had expected it, after the sword strike prior, and instead the red steel caught on the haft of his axe, the sound ringing out loud and the vibrations shaking into his hands, leather gloves be damned. Pivoting on his right foot he turned, Gauntlet curled into an armored fist that moved as a wrecking ball and nearly caught the Faunus across the face.

Instead, the man leaned back and turned, a foot snapping up to kick against his stomach as much to strike him as to let him leap away from the attack, wheeling through the air and landing on his feet in a feat of acrobatics that had him sighing under his heavy helmet.

And Blake was the cat Faunus? Right...

The man's sheath snapped up and Jaune's Gauntlet mirrored it in the same moment, fingers splayed and Mana swirling through the air, the three shots he fired bouncing off it uselessly before Adam straightened and turned, sheath returning to his waist. Without a word or a moment's hesitation, he shot forward, sword glowing dimly red, coursing with the energy from striking his axe's haft earlier. With that power, he cut through the Mana swirling around him and Jaune let it go, the wind flying out away from them in a burst of wind.

Spinning on his heel, Adam hurled his sword at him, hair and coat glowing along with his sword now as it spun before him; whirling angrily like a buzzsaw that Jaune caught on the haft of his axe once again. Metal screeched against metal as it tried to cut through his superior, enhanced weapon and the magic that bound it for what felt like minutes. Loud, tense minutes, of weapon against weapon, both struggling to do their master's wishes and strike at the other like trained beasts of war roaring shrieking, and snarling in challenge and fury at each other.

Finally, with a snarl of his own, Jaune batted the spinning sword back at him and Adam's knee hit the ground, the man sliding under the spinning weapon and snapping a hand out to catch it with one hand.

"That wind trick of yours is getting old, Overlord." He mocked, rising and flicking his sword arm to the side, either to be rid of the tingling or mock him further Jaune couldn't be sure. "It barely worked the first time. Why would you try it again? Or are you just trying to run away again? Blake would certainly approve of that plan, it's all she's good at too."

"The definition of insanity, trying the same thing and expecting a different result. So keep attacking me and I'll bounce you back, and keep insulting Blake while I ignore you." Adam snorted derisively and Jaune channeled more Mana into his Gauntlet, setting the wind spinning and maintaining it while simultaneously channeling Mana into his axe. With the weapon he waved for the man to come in and grinned, "Now, are you going to stand over there or actually fight?"

With another derisive snort he saw more than heard, the others fighting too loudly down the street, Adam slid a leg back and sheathed his sword. Aiming, Jaune didn't doubt, to cut through his Mana wall again and hit him directly.

As before, Adam's sword cut through the wind, glowing dimly as he flexed his Semblance to get through, and Adam landed with his knees bent and a grin on his face, sword coming down and turning to slash up at him.

He saw the man gasp, though, when fir surged around the Mana-barrier, and heard him cry out as it whipped into him and threw him back in an explosion of fire and wind. The man rolled across the ground, sword digging into it like a pick to stop himself, and came up just in time to see Jaune leaping towards him with his axe held back in a clear threat. The silvery black weapon whistled through the air and Adam ducked back, grunting as the weapon cut through his hair, hit something hard that came off with a wet popping sound, and the man roared in rage, shock and pain. His red blade cut between them, this time overflowing with energy, and Jaune mirrored his scream as he was hurled back and sent sprawling across the road.

"What's wrong, Adam?" He called as he stood, coughing as the tabbard on the front of his armor smoldered, much the same as Adam's jacket smoldered where their attacks had burned each other. "That sounded like I hit something sensitive."

"Y-You racist motherfucker!" Adam snarled, off hand pressed to the front of his head where blood flowed in thin rivulets between his finger and his hair had matted itself down. There, he could see one horn still poking into the air, the other having snapped off entirely. "You took my horn?! Do you have any idea-"

"That was actually an accident." He shrugged, bringing the bottom of his axe down a bit behind him so the head hung threateningly in front of him. After a second, he shrugged, "I mean, I don't mind, but that was an accident. Didn't mean to. Gotta say, it looks great, I'll even you up here in a second."

Yet again the man shot towards him fast enough that Ruby would be jealous, this time with a rage filled roar accompanying it, as the Faunus fighter spun and feinted another swing across his armored chest. The once-blonde Overlord ducked back, the sword whistling between them once in the feint, and his Gauntlet came up to meet the next head on, axe held back and to the side to counter the strike.

Instead, the man fired a shot with his off weapon and used it to turn on a heel, leveling the ballistic sheath at his head with barely a foot between the barrel and his helmet. His eyes widened and he flinched in shock. That flinch saved his life, the round jerking his head to the left as the round shot over that shoulder that left his ears ringing, another impacting the wolf-pauldron in a rapid, snap-shot follow up. Jaune staggered away, still dazed and ears ringing, axe lashing back and forth in front of him to fend the man off while he recovered, something that would only take a few scant seconds.

"I thought you were 'the Overlord'?" The man jeered, smiling cockily under his white mask while Jaune seethed but patiently held his ground, using the time to recover from the series of attacks. "You talked a big game, but I see you're just another Human. All talk, no action."

"Give me a second," he seethed, standing straighter before the man, "and I'll show you the action you want to see. I'll show you why I am the Overlord."

Adam didn't give him the second though, clearly hearing the threat for what it was and rocketing towards him. His gauntlet snapped up on instinct and he hissed as the crimson blade slammed into the armored appendage and bounced off. Jaune was quick to counter, batting the weapon back with the limb and stepping into his guard slightly. With a burst of Mana that crackled along his axe in scorching fire, he pivoted on a heel and brought the blade high and then down towards Adam's head in a heavy, slow attack that Adam easily caught in a guard.

The force, though, was ten times that any normal person, Hunter or not, could exude as his Mana lit up ever single strength Rune and augmented him further.

It ate through his Mana like Ruby ate through their sweets, sure, but it forced Adam to a knee with a surprised yelp, and bought him time to bring his knee up and into the Faunus' face with a satisfying crack, also augmented by his runes. Runes that caused his armor to glow dimly and illuminated the furious snarl on the Faunus' lips, and the burst of blood as his nose burst like a fountain.

The attack caused his Aura to crackle and cracked his mask through it, the man staggering back and away. He tried to rise but floundered, nose bleeding and his ears no doubt ringing, and nearly fell. Would have fallen, were it not for the armored Gauntlet that wrapped around his sword arm and held him fast.

"Like I said before." He shrugged, grinning sadistically behind his visor as Mana flowed into the axe again, the thing almost eagerly lapping it up and shaping it to his command into crackling electricity that arced along the entire length. "I am the Overlord, you literally bull headed son of a Grimm, and I only needed a second to get you. I call this," he held the axe up so he could see, the Faunus pulling against his impossible grip as lightning arced, "my cattle prod."

"You bastard Human- Agh!" Adam writhed as he slammed the head of his axk into his head to silence him, and then pressed it to his stomach like the cattle prod he'd named it after. The man screamed and spasmed for a few seconds before, fearing he'd kill him, Jaune let go. The man staggered away, Aura sparking and fading and the man himself faring no better, slurring and standing unevenly,"You fffucking Human basst-stard."

"Sorry, I can't make out what you're saying. Should really work on that slur, Taurus." He mocked, slamming his Gauntlet into the man's face and driving him to the ground. Grinning, he asked, "Did that help? No? Ah well, not a doctor, sorry about that."

Taking the moment, he kicked the sheath out of his left hand, that side having fared the worst, and then prodded the right until his hand spasmed and let go and kicked the sword away. The Faunus tried to fumble for it and he sighed, slamming his boot into the man's sternum once to stop him and turn the man into a choking mess alongside his slurring, and then again for his own amusement. Kneeling on his chest while the man tried in vain to push him off with his hands, the pleased Overlord reached down to yank the mask off the Faunus' face and whistled, tossing the porcelain thing away and tutting condescendingly.

"That's a wicked scar, Taurus." He grunted, the man scowling up at him with one eye, other sitting dead and numb in its socket. "I know how you got it, too. Blake told me all about it, and your semblance too. Or did you think I didn't attack much because I was scared?"

"Of course she told you, the traitor." He lashed out, trying to punch at his armor covered face in a petty attack and Jaune sighed, burying his Gauntlet's sharp claws in his left shoulder to end that entirely. The man cried out and, satisfied, he wrenched his to the side and summoned his Mana, blasting the offending limb aside while the man screamed under him.

"You were a hero, once upon a time, but you let your situation corrupt you." He chided him, standing and leveling the head of his axe at the man's neck. He scowled up at him and Adam smile, sending Mana coursing through his axe. "I'll be better than you, though, don't worry."

"You Human son of a-"

With a crackling whoosh, fire overtook his head and Adam screamed, all sense of dignity gone as Jaune stepped back and the man writed, one remaining arm pawing at the fire uselessly. A few seconds passed of the sound before a gun cracked, a round popping through his head and ending the noise and pain both. Adam turned and Blake met his gaze evenly, eyes defiant but watery and Gambol Shroud in her hand, smoking gently in the dark.

He nodded to her and turned, shouting over at the other two, "How's your fight going, Tai?"

"Going fine! Just finishing up, you… Sadistic motherfucker." Banesaw cried out as Tai wrenched his arm beside him and Qrow slammed a knee into his groin so the blonde could force him to the ground. The Branwen handed him a pair of cuffs and, finally, Banesaw deflated when they were on, Tai calling out, "You all good over there?"

"Yes I am." He nodded cheerily, bottom of his axe striling the pavement meaningfully while the man below him smoldered. Later, he'd have to deal with Blake, he knew, but for now… For now he felt like he was on Cloud Atlas. "You need a hand with that one, or are we headed back to Beacon?"

"Back to Beacon, Oz will want to know what the hell happened out here." Qrow called, grunting with effort as he yanked the large Faunus to his feet and the man bucked against them. He turned his gaze on Adam and then on Jaune, who shrugged nonchalantly and dusted his wolf-pauldron off cockily, and then seemed to deflate entirely.

"We'll handle him and catch Oz up, you don't want to be there for that kind of flack. We'll get plenty of it as is." Tai called finally, nodding beyond him at the body and the girls even further away, "Deal with them, and get out of here. Oz will handle the cops later, but for now…"

"I got it." Even if just leaving the body out like this felt weird. Couldn't they at least leave a note or something to explain what had happened?

Oh well, it wasn't his problem to deal with, really.

Turning, he retrieved the scattered sword and sheath, sliding the weapon into its home with a little metal chunk. Holding it in his heavily armored hand and his axe in the other, he made his way to where Blake had hidden from the fight with whoever this 'Ilia' really was to her, the former kneeling with her handgun on the ground in front of her and the other still unconscious on the ground beside her, leaned against the truck.

"Blake." She didn't answer and he grimaced, leaning his axe against the truck and kneeling, free hand coming up to lift his visor so she would be able to see his face. Gently, he reached out with his clean hand to lay it on her shoulder and shake her gently, to get her attention. It seemed to work, glassy, amber eyes meeting his stiffly, and he asked, "Blake, are you alright? You look like a statue."

"I just killed someone who was once my best friend. After you cut off his horn without understand what that means to a Faunus, tazed him, dismembered him and then lit him on fire." She pointed out dryly, blinking at him owlishly while Jaune grimaced understandingly. Not sympathetically, of course, but her understood her points. "How do you think I feel?"

"Fair." He nodded, removing his hand when she shot him a glare for it and asking, "Do you want to go to the Tower? Your… Friend there, she'll be safer there."

"Will she?" The question was barbed and sharp, but Jaune didn't rise to it and instead let her glower. He could understand her being upset, even if he was flush with adrenaline and fighting not to smile in her face.

"Here, Atlas or Vale can take custody of her. There, I am the only one who has a word in her fate. And as long as you keep her under control, I won't intrude on your affairs." He pointed out, the woman scowling at the assertions themselves as much, he was sure, as the truth in them. Reaching up, he flicked his vis closed and stood, offering her a hand up and asking, "Do you still want to be involved with this? Stopping the White Fang was never going to be a bloodless affair. And if you were in it, you know people who will die through this."

"I know what I signed up for, I just…" She fell silent but, after a moment, accepted his hand up and then turned to look down at Ilia, almost like she was talking to them both, and simply said, "Leave it, and me, alone about all of this. I've made my decision and I'll tell you when I change my mind."

Her voice was quiet and almost inaudible against the wind and the sounds of sirens approaching in the distance, but he heard her.

"Alright, I won't argue with you about it." He hadn't even been meaning to sound like he was, he only wanted to give her the out. Accepting that she'd rejected it, he nodded and stepped around her, grabbing his axe as he went, to kneel beside the Fang member and lay Adam's sword across her legs. "You hold onto me, I hold onto her, we go to the Tower and drop her in a cell. I'll leave you there to talk to her. Good?"

"Good enough." She nodded, wrapping an arm around his and kneeling beside him, almost like a maiden being escorted to a dance in a movie. He waited for her to take a deep breath and nod, grunting, "I'm ready."

Then his Mana surged and, with a pop, they moved. First to the cave Portal-Shrine and then, carrying the woman over his shoulder, to the Tower proper to drop her off. Gnarl met them, standing anxiously by the Portal-Pool and wringing his hands, but relaxed when he saw them.

"Well, you have a guest, a trophy, and neither of you are bleeding over the nice fur rugs yet again, so I will assume everything went well?" He nodded and the creature grinned, turning and leading them through one of the doors down, further into the Tower. "I am assuming that one is joining the two others as our… Esteemed guest?"

"Yes." He grunted simply, wondering only now what their prisoners got up to. He pushed it aside though, instead adding in a commanding voice, "She's Blake's responsibility, though. Not a normal prisoner. I want a special place for her, where she'll be comfortable."

"I'll set the Minions to building immediately, for now she'll have to stay with the others, though." He shrugged, looking up at the walking and conscious Faunus with a raised brow. "It will take time, but Miss Belladonna here can… Help us build a proper prison, I suppose. If that is alright?"

"I don't mind helping." Though she'd need new clothes to be outside in, the Tower itself was warm, but outside? Outside she'd turn into a cat-sickle more likely than she'd help get anything done.

"I want a few houses, too, out here." Jaune added as an afterthought. Something he'd been meaning for a while to mention, and only decided to now on a spur of the moment. Why now, carrying an addled woman through his Tower, seemed a good moment he had no idea. "For guests, visitors, workers when we get them in, that kind of stuff. Ruby's going to be staying here, which means Tai and Qrow will need a place to crash that isn't the throne room."

"I'll set to work laying a road plan out, then. Been some time since the Tower sat in a castle town or village, but…" The Head Minion shrugged and seemed cheered by the prospect, eyes glazing over in the way they did when he was planning something. Nodding suddenly, he barked a laugh and sighed contentedly, "I shall enjoy building a new settlement up, Master. It will be up to you to fill it with Mistresses and their families, though."

"I'll leave it to you." He sighed, stopping at the base of the stairs and turning to Blake, shrugging Ilia off his shoulder and letting the other Faunus catch her and lean her against the wall. "I'm going to go see Ruby, okay?"

"Finally?" Blake finally smiled, even if it was thin and snide. A good change of pace regardless, at least, compared to her being withdrawn.

"Handle your friend." He sighed, turning and holding the sword out to Gnarl, who accepted it with a raised, questioning brow. "Leave this in my room, I'll figure out what to do with it later. It was Taurus'."

"I will do as you bid, Lordship." The Minion bowed his head, holding the thing in both hands like a staff and giving him a small, knowing smile. "Go and see your Mistress, now, Master. I've much to do, and you being underfoot shan't help me."

He thought about arguing with the creature but instead sighed and waved him off, turning to head back up to the Portal-Pool with neither a backwards word or glance. Now he was worthy of seeing Ruby again, with her attacker dealt with. All that was left now, he knew, was to deal with the Fang at large.

A conversation for another day, he decided.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

The only delay on his way back to Beacon was a stop in the spider-cave's pool, to clean his Gauntlet off and wipe off the soot that Adam's attacks had scorched onto his armor, along with whatever other dirt he'd gotten on his armor. A smart decision if he didn't want every eye on him for literally walking around with blood covered claws and obvious combat damage. That was a source of rumors and questions he didn't want, particularly when he knew for a fact that there were cops with a body in Vale, whether or not it was almost unlikely enough as to border on impossible that anyone would be out and about this late. Better safe than sorry.

Tai intercepted him on the way to his room where, hopefully based on the time of night, Ruby would be waiting. Asleep, probably, but there regardless for him to at least see alright and comfortable.

"She's asleep, was asleep when I got here, too. Tired after a long day of classes and makeup work." He said simply and quietly, voice still echoing through the empty halls around them in spite of his best efforts and turning the whisper into an echoing sound that seemed to, distantly, taunt them both. Seeing him hesitating and thinking, Tai crossed his arms over his chest and added gently, "She needs the rest, is what I'm saying."

"Ah." Which meant he didn't want Jaune, covered in plate armor, chain and carrying an axe that clanged every time it hit the ground, to go into the room and see her.

"Also don't want you seeing her after you tried to burn a man alive. She wouldn't like knowing about that, I don't think." His own opinions on it, Jaune noticed sharply, the man didn't express. Instead, he leaned against the wall and asked too calmly, "What was that about, any way? Seemed kind of savage to me."

"He hurt her." Jaune said simply, honestly feeling that should answer enough.

"Yeah, I know he was." He jerked a thumb up at himself meaningfully and added in a low, plain voice that didn't let Jaune guess his intentions or opinions in any direction as he spoke. "I took care of her until her Aura and Oz' mojo had her patched up. But I wouldn't go that far regardless. That was just… Kind of brutal, you know?"

"I'm sorry if you were under some illusion that I was some saint, Tai." He shrugged, lacking any real heat behind the words. Most of their interactions and relationship had been him saving people, so it was genuinely fair if he took that interpretation. "Ruby is mine, and I am hers, far as I am concerned. Someone tried to hurt what was mine, so I put them down. Permanently."

The man chafed at hearing him refer to Ruby that way, he could see it, but didn't try and argue the point for whatever reason.

"Still. There's killing someone and doing that to them." The man pressed, clearly fishing for… Something Jaune wasn't sure about. "I mean, I get killing someone in a fight when you have to. Hunters and ex-Hunters run into each other all the time and have to fight, and lotta times, only one of 'em walks away. But that wasn't needed."

Ah, there it was.

"It wasn't needed, Tai, but I wanted it." The man blinked at the honesty and Jaune shrugged his armored shoulders, leaning his axe against the wall and then joining it, arms crossed over his armored chest. "Like I said, I'm not some kind of saint or knight in shining armor. I won't give people second chances to hurt my people, and I won't feel bad for enjoying putting them down."

"Ruthless."

"Yeah, a bit, but I don't mind it." He shrugged again and sighed, gave a short, tired shake of his armored head and explained, "This is me. Ruthless, savage, whatever you want to call it. I won't let anyone hurt the people I care about. And if they do? They die, and they die in a way that makes damn sure everyone around me knows they'll get the same. I don't mind people not liking me for it. I don't care about people's opinions. Only their survival."

"I understand." Tai nodded, giving him a small smile, "And no matter what, Ruby's safe from that?"

"I would die before hurting her." He vowed, nodding his head and not even breaking the moment to toss in his Arc catchphrase. "I don't know what we have, but… But I like it. And I'll protect it. I don't know what else to say to you, I guess."

"You don't need to, I've heard what I needed to." The man turned then, waved a hand over his shoulder, and called back as he left, "G'night, John. Get some sleep, Ruby's going to pelt you come morning."

With a resigned, but amused, sigh Jaune pushed off the wall and made his way to his room. Inside, he set his weapon aside, pulled his helmet free and turned, blinking at his bed. Two mismatched eyes blinked back from under every blanket in the room, swaddled like she was hiding under them and the fort of pillows she'd erected around it.

"So, uh, hi?" She waved, hand shooting out of the pillow and blanket fortress and then vanishing back in, and he tapped his foot a few times unsurely. "So, I'm going to need some of those pillows and my blanket back, please. I'm exhausted."

She only wiggled into the fortress more and he sighed tiredly. "Look, I don't want to hurt you, little girl." He threatened, heavy, metal steps carrying him to the bed with a fake swagger, "So just give me my stuff and-"

"Ruby says I'm her friend." The Scroll's auto-tune voice rang out, the screen sticking out of the front of the pillow-fortress. He looked at it, a picture on the screen of Ruby smiling widely with a confused looking, multi-colored woman pulled against her in a hug. "She'd be really, really mad if you hurt me. Or took my pillows and made me say you did."

Sighing, he relented and turned to the barren other bed. It was warm enough in here, at least…

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)


	31. Chapter 31

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When Ilia finally woke up, her head felt like it had been caved in and then pieced back together with glue. Her vision swam as she sat up, and she held her head in both hands, focusing her Aura to assuage it as best she could manage. It had all recovered, which told the young Faunus that she'd been out for at least a day if not longer, while the bruising and burns along her stomach and chest told her it had been less than a week, as her Aura had not already passively healed the injuries.

Once again, she focused her Aura into herself, the stiffness and slight pain ebbing away as it glowed across her bare stomach. She ran her hands through her hair to be rid of the knots that had developed there as she slept and winced at the bruise around her wrist from when she'd fallen in that fight, Aura rushing to mend that as well as her pained hiss passed through her teeth and turned into a sigh, shifting as the pain was remedied.

Her aches and pains dealt with while she'd known she was safe and alone, she sat up in the bed and pushed the heavy, fur covering off.

"F-Fur?" She blinked, running her hand along the bristly pelt of what looked like some kind of dog, probably a wolf from the size if she had to guess. Under it was a thick, woolen set of sheets with another like it below that, over what felt like more fur. "Why is the bed lined in fur?"

The rest of the room was just as odd to look at, and distinctly non-Valean as far as she'd ever seen. Which was admittedly little, given she'd been stuck in safe houses the vast majority of the time, as was normal for Fang operatives in the Kingdoms between missions.

It was the size of a normal, if mildly larger than normal, bedroom that could be found in any house in any Kingdom. Except instead of drywall, the walls were made of heavy, black stone brickery and a silvery mortar. There were no windows, and instead of paint or wallpaper covering the bare stone, thick and heavy fur hung on each wall in pairs. These were muted blacks and browns, but longer than a wolf, so she guessed they were deer-fur decorations. The only exception was the back left corner, across from the foot of her bed which did have a deer-skin hanging beside it.

In that corner was a fireplace, about a foot wide and made of the same black stone as the walls. Above it the wide chimney crawled up the wall and then stopped in a slant, which at least told the chameleon-woman that this was an exterior room, even if it didn't have windows. A heavy wood-holder of dark iron sat beside it, a fire poker leaning against the stacked logs in it while the fire crackled in the place quietly.

'A burning fire means someone's been in here.' She thought, gently, gingerly lifting her blankets and sheets to slide out of the bed and onto the floor. She landed on all fours, catching herself and watching the thick, fur-backed wooden door across from the bed and trunk - she only saw the low thing now, when she was out of the bed - for a reaction.

'Not my whip-rapier, but…' She padded over and carefully picked up the iron thing, testing its weight in her hand once before nodding. 'Doable.'

Armed and ready, now, she turned to look around the room and try and get a feel for her situation. The dresser to the side of the door was simple, but made of wood and the book shelves on top of it were full of new looking books. There was also the fire and the wooden, fur covered chair in front of it, along with the fur on the walls and layered on across the floor, that added together told her they wanted her comfortable.

But when she checked, the door was locked, so she was a prisoner at the very least.

'I mean, that was kind of obvious.' She thought with a mute sigh, slinking back to the bed and gently sitting on it, wary for now of making noise and alerting her captives. 'But they let me keep my clothes, and left a possible weapon here… And the room is comfortable, with books and a warm fire. Why?'

She honestly couldn't think of a reason she'd still be alive, outside being imprisoned to be interrogated. There were stories, more urban legends, of White Fang women being taken to dark, damp places and being forced to do unspeakable things to avoid punishments worse than she could imagine baring. But this didn't feel like that, even assuming those stories were true. She'd been left in her clothes, for one, and she hadn't woken up chained down either, so whoever her captor was didn't seem inclined to any of those things.

So why?

She heard the doorknob turn, ears sensitive from years of sensitive work, and grimaced. 'About to find out, Ilia. So what do you think. Ready to die for the cause?'

Not really, no. Fighting was what she was ready for, to an extent, and she readied her poker warily as it to prove it. That was one thing, though, and dying out here where no one would ever know why or how was another all together. Holding her improvised weapon out in front of her, she pushed the thoughts aside. She had a fight coming either way, after all, and being afraid wouldn't help her one bit. Besides, all she needed to do was get out the door and into the hall. Then she could find her way out, and disappear into Vale like only she could do. Like she'd been trained to do.

"Hold it right there!" A man with two curling horns sticking out of bushy, back hair like wool pushed the door open with one hand, the other carrying a tray with a bowl on it and a bottle of water. He froze at her orders, blinking sheepishly at him, and she swallowed anxiously. "Y-You're a Faunus. Where am I? What's going on here? Why are you holding me prisoner, and what happened to Blake and Adam?"

"I-I'm not the one keeping you here, and I don't know who 'Adam' is. But Blake left with the Overlord for class about… Five hours ago?" He nodded after a second of thought and grunted, forcing a stiff and anxious smile onto his face at the confused woman in front of him. "Y-Yeah, about five hours ago, maybe closer to five and a half now though. They should be back in an hour, plus or minus change. But they asked me to get you some food earlier than that."

"You didn't say where I am!" She accused, stepping close enough to prod him in the chest with the pointed end of the poker.

"The Dark Tower." He answered simply, completely ignoring the poker prodding his ribs.

"And where on Remnant is that?" She asked, "And how do I get out of here? There has to be a way."

"Fine, fine. The Overlord gave me orders if you got uppity..." The poker stilled in her hand for a fight, but he just batted aside the iron poker, heavy work gloves protecting him from the feeling of hitting metal, and pushed the door all the way open. "Head to the left and down the hall. The doors lead right outside, though you aren't exactly dressed for the weather."

Keeping the weapon between them, she slid around in front of him and then, finally, swapped their places. Turning, she took off at a jog through the dark, torchlit hallway of identical doors set only to her left side. A set of doors made of heavy, dark wood sat in the dark brickwork on her right side, wider and with heavy iron reinforcements on the double doors. She pushed them open with a foot, her improvised weapon through it a moment later in an awkward, unbalanced grip, in case it was a trap.

"Hooly shit." She shivered suddenly, bare arms and mostly bare legs and feet stiffening in the painfully cold air. "W-What the h-hell?"

The door was one of four like it, that opened out on a wide, flat courtyard. Snow dominated the ground, though it had been packed down flat and hard, and wooden boards laid across the snow around the edges of the courtyard and in two lines to go straight across from each door to the center. A raised dais had been erected there, made out of slabs of the black stone to form stairs, and a last, massive one made of a single large piece of stone with smoothed sides and a smoothed top for the dais. A metal rod sat in the center that stuck a hundred feet into the air, a thick, black cloth flag whipping in the air. A silver gauntlet had been sewn onto the front, but she couldn't make out much beyond that. Piles of wood and stone were heaped into semi-organized mounds in opposite, snowy corners of the courtyard, waiting on whatever they were meant to do.

At each door stood two creatures in hide armor, holding long-shafted axes with wicked edges. Others in lighter gear, and Faunus under watchful guard, worked on smoothing the dais' steps while others brought in more wood to add to the pile in one corner.

"So, going to head out or do you want to sit down, eat something and I'll send for the Overlord?" She turned and the Faunus was standing behind her, arms crossed and a small, almost apologetic smile on his face. "Hot potato and venison stew, it's really good. I made it myself. So, food and answers?"

"Sure…" She nodded, following the man back through the door and asking, in a quiet, weak voice, "W-Where am I again?"

"The Dark Tower, home of the great and mighty Overlord, his magical army of gremlins he calls Minions and his giant, completely sentient, talking spiders." The man answered flippantly, giving her a smile over his shoulder when she stumbled and gave him a shocked look. "Yeah, it gets a little weird around here, sometimes. You'll get used to it eventually."

What had she gotten herself into this time…

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Hey, uh…" He shuffled in his spot on the low couch awkwardly, sitting in Tai's living room while the man cooked dinner in the other room, the Portal-Shrine now repaired meaning they could come and go as they pleased. Something Tai, Yang and Ruby enjoyed thoroughly. "Hey, uh, yeah, Ruby?"

"Yeah, Jaune?" The girl answered, turning from her movie to blink curiously at him with those wide, amused, silvery eyes. He spared a glance for his good arm, trapped between her arms and against her chest, then curled in her lap, and she tilted her head in curiosity. In a way that would have been cute if his arm wasn't tingling like he'd been tazed. "What's up? Is something wrong?"

"My, uh, my arm's… Numb." Enough to hurt, anyway, and he didn't like it. "This movie is three hours, and we've watched almost all of it now… But my arm is super numb and I need to move it."

"Oh? That must suck." She only shrugged though, adjusting her legs over his lap and sighing contentedly while he fought to ignore the lack of anything beyond her leggings in the way. Damn hormones... "Maybe next time you won't frickin' run off without coming to see me in the hospital first. Hm?"

"Technically, I only really woke up after you were healed up and they released you. So you can't really -Ow!" He cried out when her elbow shot into his ribs, the new-ish button-up Tai had bought with Tower funds doing nothing to protect him. The girl smiled at his pout and turned back to the movie, leaning her head on his shoulder while he sighed, "That was mean…"

"So was disappearing to deal with Adam all on your own." She chided, raising a single finger to cut him off when he opened his mouth to argue, "My dad, Qrow and Blake don't count. No trying."

"How do none of them count, though?" At least Blake should have, really. Given she was on Ruby's team and all that.

"Because I said so, and I'm the girl in this relationship, and I'm mad, and my mom always said that a mad lady got to be petty." She shrugged, shimmying closer against him and thumping a hand into his chest gently enough to not hurt him but still be feelable. A quirk of their relationship, her Aura let her hit and move harder than he could quite handle without his armor. Or at least more than his shirt alone. "And Blake's in trouble now, too, remember? Just like you."

"But-"

"Might want to just give up while you're not in the real dog house, Jaune." Tai suggested in a bright voice as he joined them, setting a tray heaped with cookies so high that they were nearly as tall as the low coffee table themselves. Jaune raised an eyebrow at the statement and Tai pointed a finger to the former blonde's side, where Zwei was glaring balefully up at him. "If you make Ruby any madder, Zwei will get… Protective."

"You're protective." Even sitting and watching a movie, the man insisted on being around them to 'protect Ruby's innocence'. As though he didn't literally kill a man the other day for her, a fact that… Should have bothered him more, really. Or her at least. "How could Zwei be more protective? Or at least, how could he be scarier than you?"

"You'd… Be surprised." Tai shrugged, easing himself into a comfortable chair with a cookie in his hand. "He's a little monster, that one. Love him to death, even if he could rip one of my arms off..."

"Dad!" Ruby whined, flailing an arm at the older man and pouting, "That's not nice! Zwei is sweet and lovable."

"Arf!" The little dog barked, bouncing on his seat and watching Jaune with wide, pleading eyes.

"He ripped a Beowolf's arm off a week ago when it strayed too close to the house, my little gem." Tai pointed out, Jaune's Gauntlet pausing where it had been edging towards the little dog to scratch its back. Tai saw that and snorted, smiling glassily at him in a cool, quietly threatening kind of way. "He won't hurt you, Jaune. Not when Ruby's… In your lap at least. Which hey, look, there's something to talk about."

"Not my fault!" He shouted, holding his free hand up in mock surrender and pointing a sharp finger at Ruby, "She's taken me prisoner. I'm a hostage, here, Tai! A hostage!"

"Want me to save you then? I can come and save the big, powerful Overlord from the almost sixteen year old girl if you like?" The man offered jokingly, Jaune nodding vigorously before a sharp elbow went into his ribs and he winced. Tai snorted and rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers and pointing at her legs while he fought his grin. "Legs. Off. Now. No hip to hip contact, or," he added in a stern voice when Ruby tried to argue, "thigh to hip. Even if he's being held at Ruby point."

"But Dad-"

"Now." He grunted in the stern, no-argument and no-patience way that fathers seemed to have perfected through the very evolution of the species. Grinning, he added in a more jovial tone to show he wasn't angry, "I don't negotiate with terrorists, Ruby. I let your boyfriend fight them instead."

"Fiiiiine." Ruby pouted and sighed, but did as her dad asked, turning and giving Jaune space to move his sleeping arm and wince. Straightening her cloak, she leaned over to grab a couple cookies and leaned back against the couch, handing one to him and adding in a firm, aggravated voice, "I'm still mad at both of you, though."

"Yep." Jaune grunted, leaning his head on his still mostly numb fist, over Ruby's head while the character on the screen fought an animated Grimm serpent.

"Figured, yeah." Tai added, waving a hand at the mountain of cookies on the table. When the man grinned again and met Jaune's confused gaze with a raised, challenging eyebrow, he added in a proud voice, "S'why I stole the good way of apologizing to you, and hurled a hundred cookies your way."

"Wait, what-"

"You're forgiven." She chimed, grabbing another cookie and flashing back to him, head on his chest while she munched away happily and the Overlord shot Tai a dirty look.

"You suck, Tai."

"Hey, you're the one dating my daughter, Jaune." The man shrugged in response, watching the fight scene on the television play out and sighing tiredly after a minute. He saw Jaune's confusion and nodded his head at the screen to show why. "These movies never show a fight the way it really plays out, out there. All talking, and chipping away at each other until someone surrenders or runs away, usually. And there, right there, the guy didn't even move when he cut that Ursa down but none of the others did anything!"

"Yeah… It's so unreal." Jaune saw it too, now, rewatching movies. None of them paid attention to the fights anymore, instead waiting for them to end so they could move on to the plot. Or whatever came next, frankly, in Jaune's case. "Action scenes used to be my favorite, but now… I dunno."

He must have sounded sad, because Ruby's hand reached over and pulled his left onto his stomach, her own small hand resting in the armored Gauntlet comfortingly. Smiling, he wrapped his right around her shoulder and gave her a gentle hug, the girl humming appreciatively at the gesture and watching the heroes talk on the screen once the final Grimm had fallen. Now the fight was out of the way, they sat in silence for some time, finally able to more thoroughly enjoy the movie. Another little thing that had changed, since he became the Overlord, was his lack of enjoyment of action movies. The good ones were too real, and reminded him of things he didn't like, while the rest were so fake as to be hilarious at the best of times and boring and dry at the worst.

Just one more of the small sacrifices he only now knew Hunters accepted to protect people.

"So what's next?" Ruby asked as the credits finally, mercifully, began to roll and she stood, smoothing out her school skirt to go and put away the finished movie.

"How about we watch-"

"I didn't mean about movies, Dad." She interrupted gently, turning cool, silver eyes on the blonde man while while she clicked the DVD case closed. He blinked and sat back in his chair, and she smiled apologetically at him, shrugging slightly. "I meant the White Fang. Word will get out, eventually, about how that guy was beaten. And you arrested the other ones, right?"

"Jaune has one, Oz handed the other, Banesaw, over to General Ironwood for interrogation." Tai answered, turning so he was talking as much to his young daughter as he was to her boyfriend. And seeming agitated by the conversation and Jaune's status in equal parts, which jaune kind of understood at the moment. "Said to give them a few days to try and get information outta him, then you get to move on the Fang."

"Am I expected to do it by myself?" He asked curiously, a black brow raised with the question. He wouldn't necessarily mind a solo job like that, he'd done several already after all, but… He didn't fancy making Ruby mad again, frankly, and found that as frightening an idea as fighting a gun line. "Or is Atlas going to be involved?"

"Dunno, but probably. You tend to kill everyone you meet, at least most of the time. Not so good for getting information and convictions on the record, you know?" The blonde man waited to see if he'd contest it, but Jaune couldn't honestly argue the point. He tended to lose himself to the fight, and favored more permanent solutions to his problems. So Jaune waved it off with his armored hand, letting Ruby plop onto the couch and pull his other around her shoulders like her was her personal blanket. "So yeah, you'll probably get some Atlesian backup. Don't know to what extent, though."

"I should probably go talk to Ozpin, I guess." And check on how the repairs to the Portal-Shrine were coming here on Patch, too, when he did. It was functioning, but they wanted it disguised too, and he needed to check on that. "He can get in touch with Ironwood and let me know what's going on."

"Might be a good idea, yeah. And you need to touch base with the rest of your friends, too, you've been out here for a couple days." Jaune nodded at Tai's words, genuinely feeling like seeing his friends and spending some real time with them, for once.

Before shit hit the fan yet again, as it seemed to like doing, preferably.

Two sets of eyes turned and landed on Ruby, her head on his shoulder while she nibbled on a cookie in thought. She caught their gaze and sighed, rolling her shining eyes, "Fine, fine. I guess I can't really keep Jaune all to myself, that would be mean of me. He has friends and a job to do, after all."

"You're not even surprised we're asking you first…" Tai sighed, smiling in amusement and an odd sort of satisfaction when she shrugged like that was an obvious thing. Which, given Ruby's title and the enthusiasm she took to working under it, wasn't that much of a surprise. With a sigh, Tai reached for another cookie and added, "Well, it's about time to get going any way, and Ozpin will want to see you, Jaune."

"I've been avoiding him for a while, now, yeah…" At least after the man had shouted at him for running off to deal with things himself. "Hopefully, Qrow calmed him down like he said he would when I left."

That had been a surprise, when the Huntsman stepped between Jaune and Ozpin and cut the argument off. Then he'd simply told Jaune to 'get lost while he dealt with it' and pushed him away brusquely, if not in a rude way. Jaune hadn't looked the gift bird in the mouth there and had left to go see Ruby, who had made clear how mad she was he'd run off and then decided he and Tai were going to spend time with her to make up for it. Then Gnarl had 'helpfully' suggested they go to Patch, since the Head Minion had taken the initiative in repairing the Portal-Shrine there.

He wanted to launch the git off the top of the Tower, sometimes.

"I'll come by in the morning, I need a vacation from… All this." The man sighed and waved a hand at Jaune, and the Overlord scowled in response.

"You just gestured to all of me…"

"Yep." The man nodded, waving the scowl off and giving the small corgi a look, "What do you think, boy? We need a vacation, don't we?"

"Arf!"

"Zwei! Traitor." Ruby pouted, the dog whining gently and tilting its head at her as though to say 'no, I'm completely innocent, I would never be a traitor'. "Yes you would too be a traitor. You're being one right now!"

"Arf!"

"Yes, you are!" Ruby challenged, laying over Jaune's lap to glare into the corgi's bright, dopey face in challenge while Jaune once again fought a losing war with his hormones. "You're a furry, tiny little traitor! Betraying me even though I sneak you treats all the time. How could you?"

"Arf, arf!" The little dog answered, licking her cheek while she pouted at it.

"Hey! Kisses are no fair, Zwei. You can't- Eep!" Jaune stood, arms under the girl while she sat rigid in his grip, before he turned and deposited her on the couch with a muted 'oof' as her face hit the couch. Zwei, seeing his chance, leapt on her head and started licking at any skin he could find while Ruby flailed, squeaking out, "Jaune! Help! I'm under attack by a small, black and white terrorist!"

"But Blake's at Beacon right now." Or the Tower, but he couldn't really be sure and both worked for his teasing any way.

"She's an ex-terrorist, Zwei is a real terrorist, now help me!" She whined, the Overlord laughing along with Tai when she rolled and fell off the couch, landing at his feet with a muted whump and whining. "Ow… Jaune, how could you betray me like this? Treason is in the air!"

"No, that would be fall. Fall is in the air, but you… Figured that out." He joked, dodging back from the Zwei-shaped missile she launched at him and letting Tai take it for him. The man caught it like a pro, in one hand that he pulled to his chest easily, rubbing the dog's belly on his lap like this was normal. Offering her a hand, he said, "Come on, we have to get going. You have class in the morning and I have Ozpin to deal with."

"And he messaged me earlier," Tai added from the side, resting his chin on his fist and smiling at the display, "to mention he needed to talk to Jaune tonight. Something pretty important, apparently, but he wouldn't go into details."

"Fiiiine." She whined, but she smiled, letting him tug her to her feet and then turning to grab another quintuple of cookies to carry with them. Satisfied, she turned and gave him a nod, "Okay, I'm ready to go."

"Hey, forgetting something?" Tai chided, the girl rolling her eyes but leaning into a hug, giving the man a peck on the cheek in goodbye. She slid past him and Jaune made to follow, the older man clapping him on the shoulder as he went and grunting, "See you later. Call if you need me."

"I will." He promised, grabbing his axe and stepping through the door a moment later. Smiling and enjoying the cool, southern Fall air blowing by, he added to Ruby, "Let's head to Beacon."

The forest walk with her would be nice, at least.

"I'm still mad at you." She pointed out, taking his un-armored hand in spite of that and walking close to him. He turned to look at her and she looked away, pouting cutely and adding, "You should have come see me when you woke up."

"I'm sorry."

"Ozpin said that it hurt you a lot, to help him heal me." She added, glancing to him and finally addressing that elephant in the room for the first time in days. Part of him was happy for it and part of it wished she'd let the sleeping dogs lie and not brought it up. "He told me it could have killed you, Jaune."

"I… Didn't know that." Or at least, he didn't remember Ozpin mentioning it. Not that the man would have been too troubled, he supposed, if the mighty Overlord had died then and there. She gave him a look and, face flat, he added, "I would have done it anyways. You were dying."

"Y-Yeah, I know that, Jaune." Her right arm came up, rubbing at her chest just below her collar with a grimace. The girl had had nightmares twice in a week about it, he knew, and he knew there was an angry, wide scar burned into her flesh from hip to shoulder. A permanent mark of his failure, though she'd sick Zwei on him if he said that.

Again.

"I told you father this already, Ruby. You're mine and I'm yours, and I would die for you." He said simply, the girl blushing and tugging her hood over her burning ears. He gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze and added in a quiet voice, "I won't let myself get killed randomly, though. Or throw my life away without thinking, or anything. But I have lost enough and I won't lose you, too."

"...Okay." She nodded, red hood bobbing gently. "I believe you. I-I mean, I already believed you weren't dumb, but… You know what I mean."

"I do, Ruby. I get you." She trusted him implicitly, no matter what, and put her faith in him. She was just bad at explaining how she felt, always second-guessing her words and fumbling through things for it. Looking around, the night was a light one, the light of the moon lighting the light forest up beautifully and the stars overhead sparkling in a clear sky, and he grunted, "It's really pretty out, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She nodded, smiling as the clearing they were headed towards started to come into sight, looking up through the trees at the moon. "I always loved walking out here at night, when it was clear like this and there weren't any, you know, Grimm around. It's just… Magical, and Evil that makes me sound like such a girl."

"So you like it when it's like this?" He checked, feeling his throat start to dry out at what he was about to do. She nodded and, quietly trying to get his palms to not sweat and trying to get his heartbeat to slow down, he grunted, "Perfect timing, then, for this."

"For what- Eep!" She squeaked as hey reached the clearing of the Portal-Shrine and he came to a sudden stop, pulling her to a stop and closer to him in the same moment and movement. "J-Jaune?" She blinked up at him, head tilted to the side curiously. "What's up?"

"I can face a gun line, Grimm and fight a terrorist leader one on one but this scares me… Fuck it, just gonna say it." Her eyes screwed up in confusion and he sighed, sliding his hands up to her shoulders and meeting her eyes anxiously. She'd taken the lead enough, and now he wanted to take it somewhere in their weird little relationship. "I love you, Ruby. Enough to-to die for you, if I need to, and fight for you."

"Ah." She blinked once, and then twice, and then her eyes widened, "W-w-w-w-what? I-I didn't- You can't just- Out of the blue-" Finally, she flushed and pressed her face into his chest, the blonde's hands moving to the back of her head and shoulders while the girl in his arms tried to catch her breath and think.

Finally, she pulled away and glanced up to meet his eyes, cheeks burning the same color as her cloak, "I-I love you t-too. B-But that wasn't fair, you can't just… Surprise me, like that. It's cheating."

With a clawed thumb, he prodded her chin up and leaned down, pressing a kiss to the surprised girl's lips and earning a surprised, pleased mewl as she pressed into him. Pulling away, blue eyes met lidded silver and he grinned, "I'm the Overlord. I don't play fair, Ruby."

"J-Jerk…" She let him guide her towards the Portal-Shrine though, the stone building covered by vines and mounded dirt with grass magically grown around it to disguise it as a hill. As they stepped through, she added in a quiet voice, "Thank you, though…"

"Mhm. You're welcome, Rubes." He nodded, summoning Mana to his Gauntlet

He left the flustered, blushing girl at the entrance to the dorm building, hoping to avoid the angry Yang he knew would be coming along sooner or later. Later, she might not hurt him as much, and Ruby would be there to keep a leash on her as much as that was possible to do as well, so he would take his risks on that when it came. Then there was Tai, though, when news of what he'd said to her got to him…

"Well, I died once, so at least I have practice..." He sighed, reaching for the door into the administration wing of the Academy. Not wanting to go all the way to the center of the building only to find out Ozpin was out, or somewhere else, he turned to one of the drones flanking the door and asked, "Where is the Headmaster?"

"In his private quarters, Overlord, John." The machine's synthesized voice answered, adding after a moment to consider - or more accurately, to check its servers for relevant information - in its whirring, electronic voice, "He is with General Ironwood, Branwen, Qrow, and the Headmistress. Would you like me to contact their Scrolls?"

"No, but thanks any way." He shook off the silliness of thanking a drone, but ignore it and turned to head into the building.

The hour was late enough that the staff had largely dispersed, aside from some janitorial staff monitoring cleaning drones and a few secretaries moving to and from the welcome desk. Some carried folders, others typed away on Scrolls, and none paid him any mind at all. Too busy trying to wrap up their day and get back to their quarters before the clock went into double digits. Or worse, went back into single, as he knew sometimes happened to the poor staff that worked here whether they would complain or not.

"Ah, Jaune. It's good to see you, even late to the meeting as you are." Ozpin nodded his head when the door opened on the room he'd been in several times now, the General seated to one side of him with Qrow and Goodwitch on the other side. With a gesture of his hand and a polite smile, the man indicated the seat beside the general and asked, "Would you like to take a seat, or would you like a drink first? I imagine you're here fresh off a bit of a hike."

"I'm used to it, Headmaster." But he didn't refuse the bottle of water that floated to land in front of him when it was offered, giving Goodwitch a nod across the table. The woman returned the polite gesture with an equally polite smile on her face, and he said, "Thank you, though, Headmistress. Also, Tai is why I'm late. He didn't tell me there was a meeting you wanted me for."

"Hangin' out with Ruby?" Qrow asked, balancing his flask on one edge on the table with a finger and raising an eyebrow at him. Jaune nodded and the older Hunter grunted, "Did you guys have a good night?"

"Yeah." He left out the forest confession for the sake of his own neck, of course, and turned to Ozpin. "So, what are we talking about?"

"Banesaw broke and made a plea deal this morning. He's en route to Atlas now, to go into a heavy protective detail courtesy of the Atlesian military." Ironwood answered simply, turning to meet the young Overlord's questioning eyes. "He alleges a woman with dark hair and amber eyes, and distinctly Human as well, ordered that they gather more finances to them in the other Kingdoms while they gathered Dust here. This is corroborated by Torchwick as well."

"I see." He grit his teeth and forced his fist to uncurl as soon as it had curled, good mood from earlier gone entirely. "Then she is to blame for what happened to Emilia."

"It would seem so, yes." Ozpin added, sounding tired and smiling apologetically at the blonde. "But the man didn't know her name. Roman did, and we have her description and ones of her two compatriots, but only the name 'Fall' to go on from Banesaw. Not enough to sufficiently identify anyone beyond that. There's a few thousand Falls in Vale alone, not to discount an assumed name or someone from a more remote settlement."

"Or another Kingdom. S'on the table too." Qrow drawled, the room quietly admitting that he had a very strong point there.

"Without Roman's on-record input, we have nothing." Ironwood pointed out, turning an eye on Jaune, "But that requires you to agree, officially I mean, to protect the man. Which is something none of us were willing to agree to without your consent."

"I will. If that's what it takes, then that's what it takes." He nodded, willing to do most anything to get at Emilia's killers. In a firmer, more serious tone, he went on, "You can tell him that as long as it doesn't risk my people's lives beyond reason, I'm between him and anyone that wants to hurt him. I'll even put it on paper, if he wants, but I want those names."

"I will." Ironwood promised, turning to Ozpin and standing. "I have work to do, it seems. Good evening, all."

"Is that all you wanted from me?" He asked once the general had left, Ozpin smiling apologetically at the Overlord. With a sigh, Jaune asked in a low voice, "What is it that you need, Ozpin?"

"Using your Mana, I am able to perform healing magic…" Ozpin preambled, steepling his fingers before his face for a moment and then finishing, "I would like to ask to use it to heal a… Friend of ours, so to speak."

"It almost killed me last time, and that was just a cut." If a large, deep one. Still, the point was made, and he gestured at the man with his Gauntlet. "Or did you forget that one, Ozpin?"

"Did I forget you wandering off to brutally murder a man in Vale, you mean? No, I don't think I did." The man asked sharply, brows narrowing for a moment before Jaune's hardened and he sighed, holding up a hand in a sign of peace. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't want to fight, but the brutality you showed-"

"Was deserved, Oz." Qrow interrupted in a growl, flicking his flask into the air and catching it so he could cross his arms. Meeting Ozpin's surprised gaze, the man shrugged simply and explained, "That bastard wanted to carve Ruby up like a slab of meat to get at the Belladonna girl. You start bad mouthing the Overlord for it, and I am going to have some opinions."

"I won't dwell on it, then." Ozpin sighed, accepting the defeat and moving on in stride. Something that came easier to the man than Jaune would have thought, really, as much as he'd seen of him, "There is a woman here with extraordinary power, but badly wounded and on life support. I would like to see her healed."

"A cut almost killed me." Jaune pointed out plainly, "I won't risk my life for a stranger and abandon my responsibilities."

"Then we need an alternative to my own healing abilities." Ozpin sounded agitated, and Jaune could understand why, but the man didn't seem willing to fight him on that either. He must have really needed, or wanted, his help then. "I understand one of your Minion types can heal."

"The Blues, yeah, but I don't have them." Gnarl had explained the missing Minions to him once or twice, and while Jaune envied their abilities, he had no idea where to start looking for them. "I also don't know where to start looking, so doing that is a bit out of the question as well."

"I… May have some ideas on where to look." Ozpin murmured, smiling apologetically and rising slowly from his seat. "A history text where the location of the hive is. I kept it hidden from your Gnarl-"

"And I thought we were cooperating." Jaune growled, glaring balefully at the man and, admittedly, being a little more petty than was possibly warranted. "Or do you normally stab your allies in the back, just because of your assumptions?"

"I have since changed my mind, Jaune. You showed me I was wrong, and I will get on my knees and beg you to forgive me if need be." Jaune blinked in surprise but didn't answer beyond a simple, curt nod. Taking the nod and silence for an answer, he went on, "I kept them secret to undermine you because I woefully thought we would inevitably come to blows. I see now I was wrong, and will happily provide the book to you. I only ask that you try and have them heal my... Acquaintance."

"I can't promise results." He warned, knowing that without using the Minions he would be an idiot to. Ozpin seemed to understand, nodding at the statement but waiting for more. With a sigh, Jaune finally agreed, "But... But I'll give it a shot. Now, where are the Blues?"

"In the mountains north and east of Vale." Ozpin said simply, smiling warmly at the young man, "About ten minutes from a quaint little settlement you might know, in fact. Ansel."

"... Evil damn it."

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"With Adam's death, our plans are hindered but not altered, my Mistress." Cinder finished, sitting anxiously on the corner of her bed, back straight and rigid in spite of Salem's inability to actually see her. "And with the Overlord being involved, judging from what the White Fang is reporting about the matter, it's likely he is already aligned against us as well. If only because we were aligned to Adam."

"A disappointment to be sure, young Cinder. A very, very large disappointment indeed." Salem said with a low sigh that Cinder knew carried the kinds of threats that would make Neo balk and retch. "I want you to reach out to him regardless, and attempt to speak with him. Safely, of course. We don't want to risk losing the Maiden's power now, after all."

"I will try, my Queen, but…" She grimaced but, ever loyal, pressed on and added, "But I doubt that there will be any success in that direction, unfortunately. I am sorry for that, my lady, but… Such is out of my control."

"Indeed it is, and for your failed plans and inability to monitor your underlings." The Grimmling snapped, Cinder wincing at the sharp tone. With an audible intake of steadying breath, the creature asked in a glassily pleasant tone, "Now, Cinder, dear. Do you need assistance from your colleagues for this?"

"I…" Her pride screamed at her to say not, to assert she was perfectly adept for this job. But the rational, logical part of her chimed in with a casual reminder that a second utter failure might cost her. And most likely, the price would be flesh and blood, not Lien or time.

Her now-missing hand ached in memory of the cost to pursue just the Maiden's powers, and Salem's ease at inflicting pain.

"Cinder?" Salem prompted, sounding agitated and impatient. "Tyrian is in the area, so if you won't decide for yourself I will-"

"Yes, Mistress." She cut the being off, daring to interrupt her to preempt something worse. An assumption of weakness. Swallowing through her dry throat, the half-Maiden woman went on, before Salem could fill in for her again, "I could use Tyrian's assistance, Mistress. With the loss of Taurus' power and control over the Fang, and the Overlord's likely animosity, I need someone who can fight and sneak in equal measure. For the attack on Beacon, in the latter case."

"It takes a big woman to admit to her faults, young Cinder." Salem praised, sounding surprised and mildly pleased in equal measure. "I shall send Tyrian orders to contact you, and obey you. Do not fail me, Cinder. I am putting my faith in you, and I do not take kindly to having my faith spurned."

The woman hung up before Cinder could respond, and Cinder let out a sigh, forehead in the palm of a hand, "Grimm, what have I gotten myself into…?"

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Once more, I'm doing moderately longer, mor involved chapters by request. Which means that they will at least typically take a day or so longer. However, I do endeavor to mitigate the time loss. As always, thank you for reading, thank to you all those who Reviewed, and a heartfelt thank you to my Supporters.

Stay twisted, my friends.

*sips a beer, stumbles and falls over because gravity hates me*

We're not talking about that any more.

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	32. Chapter 32

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"Blake? Blake!" The cat Faunu's bare ears quirked at the words as she stepped through the door and into the room, a bundle of logs under one arm and a tray of dinner under the other. Ilia's bright eyes flashed and she stood from the bed, taking a step towards her and half-reaching for her before catching herself. The way the girl's smile broke and she withdrew, slowly easing back onto the bed, hurt the young ex-terrorist more than she would admit. Sounding anxious, and staring at the floor, the chameleon nodded at her slightly and murmured, "Hey, B-Blake… How, uh, how're things?"

"They're…" Insane, violent thanks to the Minions, absurdly conflicting, terrifying with the spiders coming and going at all hours now… Nothing she could say to Ilia if she wanted her to trust her again, regardless. "They're good. Went out, gathered some firewood with the, uh, the Minions a while ago. Tonight's dinner is venison and nuts, I, uh, I hope that's okay?"

"We have venison all the time…"

"Yeah, it's… Where the Tower is, there's a lot of Grimm, deer and wolves. That the Minions hunt right now at least. The Overlord has them doing too much construction and cutting and security stuff, right now, so…" She shrugged, unsure of how to go down, and set the food on one of the bookshelves just safely enough to ignore while she unpacked the wood and put it in the wood holder. "If you, uh, if you have requests I can see if they could go for rabbit, or berries, or-or maybe, uh, squirrel or… Something else?"

"Food is food. They cook it, I'll eat it." She stood but gave Blake a wary glance, one that took a moment for the other Faunus to discern.

"It's… Fine, Ilia. Eat if you want to." She wanted to say something else, but sighed instead and shook her head, kneeling while she arranged the logs in the holder so they would stay aired out and dry for the fire. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the Faunus gingerly move to the tray and lift the round lid off, to get at her half of the food there. "You know," shae started, the chameleon girl stopping halfway back to the bed, "you don't need to be afraid of me, Ilia."

"I'm not scared of you." She grunted simply, sitting on the floor at the head of the bed, legs folded and tray, picking at the charred venison slabs idly. "I'm afraid of him. His monsters, his abilities… His vendetta."

"They murdered innocent people, innocent Faunus, because they wouldn't let them rob them, Ilia." Blake argued hotly and suddenly, turning on a knee to meet Ilia's widened, surprised eyes. Taking a breath, she stood and tossed the last log she'd gotten back into the log holder and stood, headed towards the food to get her meal. "The White Fang bit off more than it could chew, and now has to deal with someone just as ruthless and merciless as they are. Now… Now they pay for it."

"And you're just fine with that, aren't you, traitor?" Ilia accused, eyes narrowed and skin burning an angry, hot red.

"What makes you even think that?" Blake demanded, jabbing a finger at the door meaningfully and shouting, "I am doing everything I can to keep him from burning every last man and woman in the 'Fang to cinders! The White Fang started a war, and I'm trying to save as many people as I can!"

"By betraying us?" Ilia demanded,slamming her tray on the ground hard enough to dent the metal tray and standing, glaring at her former friend with all the hatred of a Grimm. "You want to 'save' people by putting a knife in our backs?!"

"I saved you, didn't I, Ilia?" The smaller Faunus blinked and stammered in search of an answer to that, but Blake was already moving. She slammed a hand against the woman's shoulder and shoved her against the stone, glaring eye-to-eye and fighting tears that misted in her amber ones. "I killed Adam to save him the pain of-of what Jaune was doing to him, a-and I get to live with that! Live with causing that!"

"Jaune-"

"But Adam started this, Ilia! Adam started this war, along with… Whoever the hell sent Fang soldiers to rob the camp, and then to butcher people when they fought back! Like anyone else would!" Blake continued, howling now into the woman's face as a pair of armored Minions shoved the door open, sick swords at the ready and concerned form the yelling. Blake ignored them, though, and went on, "And he stood over you before that! Chuckling and holding an axe to your neck! And I intervened! I-I thought he might kill me for getting in his way, but I saved you!"

"M-Mistress Blake." The woman, chest heaving, rounded on the two Minions, one reaching up to grab her hand with his own small, leather-gloved ones. One hand grabbed her fingers, like a child, and the creature gave them a small, gentle tug of attention. "Y-You are upset, yes-yes, and we heard the shouting. And we came. Are you okay? Do you… N-Need anything of us?"

"I-I… No, no, I don't need anything from you." She shook her head and the Minions backed away, letting the woman take a deep breath and smile down at the creatures around at her feet. "We were talking, and it got… Heated. I'm sorry I yelled and scared you."

"Were not scared!" The other, a Brown, sneered haughtily, glaring at the captive chameleon meaningfully. "We strong Minions! You make Mistress Blake sad and yell, I make you sadder and yell lots more!"

"Hey now, there's no need for that. We're… Friends." Blake sighed, patting the short creature's helmeted head a couple of times and looking at the frightened, blue tinged Ilia meaningfully. "We're old friends, and sometimes old friends argue about things. It's fine. You two can go."

The two Faunus waited in silence as the two Minions filed out and pulled the door shut before, finally, Ilia slid back to the floor and reached for her food timidly, "Blake, I just… Thank you. For saving me, Blake."

"Of course, Ilia." The brunette nodded with a small, gentle smile, pulling off a strip of venison off her blackened, cold by now unfortunately, meat. She chewed it to buy time to think before, eventually, adding, "The war with the White Fang is happening, Ilia. I'm fighting on the side that will win because it saves more lives in the long run. What will you do?"

"I'm not a traitor…"

"No… No you're loyal to a fault, I know that pretty well already. I... Always liked that about you, back when I fought for the Fang, you know." She nodded, amber eyes meeting surprised light pink, the chameleon girl flushing a bright shade along her freckles and eyes. At the sudden praise and compliments, Blake supposed. Smiling meekly, the other girl hid her reaction in taking a bite of food and Blake asked, "You want justice for your family, and I want justice for my race. But the Fang, the way it is now at least… It's not going to deliver that. For either of us."

"And you think he will?" The question was quiet, but oddly… Hopeful. Seeking, if Blake had to pick a work for it. More firm, the woman asked, "You think the Overlord will push for the justice I want?"

"I think he has a chance to prove what kind of man he is." Blake answered simply, shrugging unsurely with the answer and ripping a hunk of meat off roughly. Jaune hadn't been perfect, so far… And he was way more brutal and violence loving than she'd have ever preferred, that went without saying. But… "I asked him to spare you, and he did. And he had Banesaw arrested, too, instead of just killing him. He's ruthless, yes, but not…"

"Evil?" Ilia tried, picking at her meal absently while Blake talked.

"Er, well… Depends on your definition, kind of. At least a little bit, here, but it's… honestly kind of complicated." Gnarl and Jaune both proudly proclaimed themselves as 'Evil', after all. But Jaune fought and defended innocent people all the time. A pair of facts which were quickly teaching her the very important meaning of the word 'context'. "He listens, though, a-and he… He keeps his word."

"I guess that's enough, sometimes. Right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it's enough, sometimes, for the person over you just to listen to what you say and keep to what he says. More than we used to get." Atlas, the Schnees, Mistral and Vale to lesser extents… They'd made a business off of making promises they had no intention of keeping. And ignoring them all, of course. "Jaune listens, and if you surrender he honors it. And if he makes a promise, unless something stops him, he keeps his word on the matter. You can trust him that far, at least."

"I don't trust him." Ilia answered shortly, glancing between the floor and the cat Faunus a few times before murmuring, "B-But you saved me, and… We're , we were friends, a-and I want to be friends again, and… I don't know. But I'll trust you."

"That's all I ask." And in turn, Blake would protect Ilia and try to keep Jaune under control. As long as he had Ruby on his arm, he'd be kept under control. Enough to keep his word and stay a good man, at least, because Ruby would never tolerate anything else out of him. And she'd seen the way Jaune hung on her words, and her sometimes. "He'll stay on the right path, Ilia. Or Ruby will kick his ass back onto it…"

"Who?"

"You'll meet her tonight." Blake waved the question off with a small, expectant smile. "They'll be here for dinner, and I'm gonna go, and… I'm taking you to meet them. Officially, I mean."

"As opposed to when he tried to kill me?" Ilia asked, clearly so thrilled about the idea judging from the little half-smirk she had and the raised brow.

"Yeah…" She grimaced in answer, sighing and rolling her eyes, "Jau- The Overlord tends to be a bit gentler and better to talk to when he's got food in front of him. And when his girlfriend isn't still recovering from a horrifying wound."

"Yeah… Yeah, the food part sounds important." Ilia murmured, trying - and mostly failing - to break the tension on the room. Still, they chuckled and ate and, after a moment, Ilia asked, "So… How, uh, how is Beacon?"

Things weren't fixed between them, Blake knew that much for a fact, but… As they talked about her classes and, after that, books, television and movies, Blake got the sense things were better than they'd started out. And, hopefully, they would just keep getting better and better as time went on.

One could hope…

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"You are quite sure?" Pyrrha asked, armed and armored, standing across the arena from him while the rest of the two teams who knew about them sat nearby, eager to see the fight. Across from him, the woman who would have been his partner shuffled on her feet and grimaced, pointing at him with her spear, "You've no Aura, and I don't want to hurt you…"

"I'll be fine, Nikos. Trust me, I can handle myself." He'd killed Adam Taurus, after all, and as much luck as had been involved there - along with a planned trap and two Hunters backing him up, of course, not that he was the kind to take credit where it wasn't due - and as strong as Pyrrha was, this wasn't a life and death fight regardless. Shrugging, he added in a faux mocking tone, "But, ah, if you've got so little faith in me, I guess we shouldn't go ahead with this."

"N-No! No, no, I did not-" The woman's shield hand came up as though to reach for him, to stop him from leaving or something he wasn't sure, and then fell again as she flushed. "I did not mean anything as impolite as that, John. I just… Don't want to hurt you, I suppose. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, Pyr. I was just teasin' you, don't worry about it." He shrugged, the woman flushing slightly again but nodding curtly, and quietly as well, regardless. Sliding a foot back and bending slightly at the knees, he held his long axe out before him like a spear as he always did and nodded to the woman. "I just want a spar, where I can enjoy a good fight without someone dying for it."

"Such is fair enough, I suppose. Very well, then." The red haired woman nodded, mirroring his stance, her shield affixed to her arm and allowing her to grip her shaft as well. In spite of her protests earlier, the woman smiled as she turned to where the Headmistress stood, flat faced and clearly displeased at having been made to assist with this by the Headmaster. "Headmistress, would you please…?"

"Absolutely ridiculous, Ozpin, making me officiate this officially like I have nothing better to be-" She sighed and then took a deep breath, standing on the observation platform teachers used to watch and judge the fights during classes, and then began to speak in a cool, clipped fashion. No doubt imagining what she would do to Ozpin later for this, if Jaune had to guess. "This is an extra spar between Pyrrha Nikos and John Overlord. Due to… Inconveniences and disabilities of a certain individual involved, this will be a nonstandard match, and will proceed until Miss Nikos yields or her Aura falls to thirty percent, or Mister Overlord yields or is impaired in such a way as to be defeat in the field."

"Gee, thanks, Headmistress." He called, catching Ruby snickering beside her sister and smiling under his helmet.

Their eyes met through his visor, or she saw him looking her way and assumed, and she wilted into a blushing mess. Beside her, Yang saw it and prodded her side with an elbow, murmuring teases he couldn't hear. Instead of flailing and hitting her sister, as was the norm for them, she wilted further, into Weiss, and Yang blinked, looking at the flustered ball Ruby had curled into and then out at him. Then, her eyes narrowed and her head tilted to the side, before she turned back to Ruby, pulling the ball so that her head ended up on Yang's chest and talking into her ear.

'Aaaaand I'm dead.' He sighed to himself, turning back to the Mistralian across from him with a small shrug. 'Ruby is a flustered mess, Yang is figuring it out, and I am very, very dead.'

Now was just guessing if it would be a fist attached to Yang or Tai that sent him reeling back to the afterlife. Eh, they'd probably share, if he had to guess. It seemed like something they'd just try to split down the middle, his brutal, familial murder.

"Nikos. Are you ready, willing and able to fight a spar in these circumstances?" Goodwitch called out, snapping him from his thoughts, the natural blonde letting his shoulders relax and retense in turn to limber Mistralian champion fighter called out her assent and the blonde woman turned to look at him, "Overlord. Are you ready, willing and able to fight a spar in these circumstances?"

"Yep! Ready, willing and able to get a good match in against Nikos over there." He wouldn't have asked Ozpin to set the damn thing up, if he wasn't. But formalities were stupid this way, he decided. The woman glared at him for his impropriety and he swallowed, the icy glare sending a chill up his spine, and added more formally, "Waiting on your word, Headmistress, I'm ready to fight."

"Then as representative of Beacon, I declare a start to this spar." The Headmistress nodded, eyes glancing between them one last time. "You may begin."

No sooner had the last words been said, Pyrrha moved, taking long strides towards him and turning on her heel, hurling her shield at him. The wind whistled around it as it flew towards his chest, but Jaune simply raised his Gauntlet and let his Mana burst in front of him at the right time, sending the little shield hurtling into the air. The Mistralian saw it and leapt high into the air, letting it return to her arm as if by magic as she came down on him, intent to thrust the spear down into him. The armored man held his breath and waited until just before she landed, before ducking to the left and cutting across to his right with his axe.

His opponent ducked under the blow and spun on her knees, stabbing up towards his helmet with the crimson tip of her spear. Again he dodged to the left, jerking his head aside and taking a step away, surging Mana across his axe and bringing it down towards the lithe woman with a cry. Deft as always, the woman danced back and spun, bringing her shield up as his black and silver blade bit into, and through, the concrete arena floor. The electricity discharged around him, along with a shower of small chunks of concrete, but the woman's shield protected her from the vast majority of the attack's after-effects, even more simply bouncing off her heavy leg armor.

The first major engagement done, and all he'd done was swap places with her, ruin the floor, and scrape her armor. Though he'd managed to defend himself against her attacks, as well, and she was fast enough for that to be an accomplishment.

'Not a good enough one.' He decided, returning to his ready stance and letting his fingers drum on the metal of his haft. 'I need to take the lead in this, she's too fast for me not to.'

This time he did just that, lunging towards her and cutting from left to right between them with his axe, Mana fire billowing out with a muted, threatening roar between them. The woman cried out in surprise and, through the fire, he saw her shield drop slightly, from shoulder height to halfway up her chest, as she stepped away. Seizing the moment, he leapt through the fire and again brought his axe across him, this time aiming for her shield. His weapon caught on the disk and the Mistralian staggered back, surprised more than hurt. Unwilling to give up the advantage, he followed, thrusting in and up at her sternum with his weapon steady in both his hands.

This time, his blow struck and the woman cried out in pain as well as surprise, lifted into the air and tossed back by the strike. She hit the ground on her back but rolled with it and came up in time to block his following, overhead blow, thrusting up at his face rapidly and weakly, forcing him back.

Grinning, the woman flicked her weapon in her hand, letting it collapse down into sword form as she closed with him. This attack wasn't probing or a single powerful hit like she'd done thus far, though. Instead, she caught his defensive thrust by stepping to his left and then slamming shield first into his axe's haft, forcing it aside and knocking him off balance.

His guard sufficiently broken she laid into him, sliding her shield along his axe and into his Gauntlet hard enough to numb his arm up to the elbow and grabbing the weapon there. Using her grip on the weapon and his own weight, she leapt up and over it, slamming a kick into his helmeted head along the way and landing with her back to him. Before he could react she continued, turning and slamming the sword across his helmet, dizzying him and making his ears ring until they ached while she buried a knee into the inside of his thigh, just below his groin. Crying out at the cramp it forced, he fell to a knee and the woman grippe dteh edge of his helmet, prying it up just enough to fit the edge of her sword under it and rest it against his chest.

"Chainmail." He grunted, denying her the victory and releasing his axe to free his hands, adding, "I'm not as easy a target as that."

Before she could answer he acted, hands grabbing her thighs under her skirt and over her tight fighter's shorts, earning a surprised cry from the woman as he rose and took her with him, hurling her into the ground as hard as he could. Before she could react he was on her, ignoring the strike of her shield against his armored ribs and catching her sword arm with his free one, wrenching it across her chest and pressing the claws of his Gauntlet against her neck. Her legs lashed against his side and he grunted as they hit, ignoring the ineffectual attempts to stop him straddling her waist. The woman's eyes met his one last time, hard and defiant, before she relaxed against the ground and let them fall closed.

"I yield!" She cried out, explaining, "His abilities mean he could kill or maim me like this, and such is a victory condition of the fight."

"The match is concluded, then. The victory for this spar goes to the Overlord, by technical terminatory victory." The Headmistress called out, the Overlord rising and offering his opponent a hand up while the woman talked. "You both fought well. But you, Overlord, put far too much power behind your attacks. It makes you easy to read."

"Hm." Not untrue, he supposed, retrieving his heavy axe and grimacing under his helmet. Still, "Kind of my style, though."

"Quite. And you, Miss Nikos, need to keep at range from an opponent who has more weight to put behind his moves than you. Not a weakness of yours, in truth, merely a mistake you made here." The Mistralian merely nodded, straightening his skirt from the grapple he'd pulled, and the Headmistress sighed, "Now, will that be all? Or am I needed to babysit you more?"

"I'll take him on!" He heard Yang call, shrinking down at the eagerness in her voice. Turning, he looked up at the uniformed woman and she winked at him, adding, "Just some play time, Loverboy. You up for it?"

"I would… Actually rather not." He answered, shrugging when lavender eyes narrowed at him and adding, "Pyrrha, uh, she roughed my head up a bit. Ears are stilling ringing from that shield hitting me, in fact." Which was actually true, enough to back what he was saying well enough, he hoped. "Maybe tomorrow, or something. Or-or when I, you know, get back from the Tower."

"If he is complaining of pain, he may be injured, so-"

"It's fine." Yang waved it off, cutting the woman off and earning a disgruntled 'hmph' for it. "I'll just ask him about it at dinner, tonight."

"Yeah, well… I guess I'll head out and get that ready, then." Plus he had to make plans about getting out to Ansel, getting the Blues… And deal with the girl Blake was still taking care of back at the Tower, her absence here owing to that. What was he even supposed to do with her? Sighing, he called up to the blonde woman, "Do you all need anything from me? 'Cuz this was fun, but I do need to get to work."

"Very well." She nodded, turning to the women - and Ren - that watched him start to make his way out of the arena with Pyrrha, "Now, children, you all have homework. Do you not? Perhaps you should spend some time on it?"

He heard the collective groaning as the door shut and Pyrrha bid him farewell, headed down the short hall to the women's lockers to get changed while he turned to leave. He didn't need to remove his armor, after all.

"That was an impressive fight, Overlord." He heard as he rounded a corner, looking at a dark-skinned woman in what he was fairly certain to be a Haven uniform leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She cocked her head, shockingly red eyes narrowed at him, and asked in a faux-friendly manner, "That's your name, right? Overlord?"

"And?"

"Not a color, is it? John's not a color. Overlord isn't either, matter of fact, neither are colors. And that kinda stands out, you know?" She observed, the black armored man turning to her and bringing the base of his axe down on the floor. It clanged hard on the ground and the green-haired woman blinked, glancing from the the keen edge he angled inwards, towards her, and to him warily. Finally, she held her hand sup in mock surrender and chuckled weakly, "Don't, uh, don't shoot the messenger, dude."

"Messengers have messages, don't they?" He didn't elaborate beyond that, something in the pit of his stomach and the back of his mind telling him this was most certainly not a student. The woman nodded and he asked, "What kind of message do you have then, messenger? And from who? That part is probably important."

"I-I'm not supposed to say who-"

"Then we're done here." He threatened emptily, turning to leave and hoping she would stop him so he didn't have to come back and say he'd changed his mind. A flair for the dramatic was part of an Overlord's toolset, Gnarl had said…

"W-Wait, uh, don't leave." He heard the couple of chasing steps she made after him and turned, the girl glowering at his chest with her arms crossed less in the cocky way they'd been before and more in an agitated way. "My Mistress' name isn't something I can give you, b-but she just wants you to come and speak with her mistress. T-That's all, and you can bring your weapon if you want to. And we know you have magical abilities too, so-"

"How do you know that?" He demanded, round on her and closing with her until her back was once more pressed against the wall, the reflection of his dimly glowing eyes showing in her wide ones. She didn't answer, chest still from her holding her breath and hands pressed flat against the wall behind her. Raising his off hand he let the Gauntlet slowly curl beside her face and again asked, "How. Do. You. Know. That?"

"M-My boss' boss knows, I-I don't know how, I swear, not really." The girl swallowed anxiously and then flinched when he growled, hoping to scare more from her, "I-I just know she gave my boss a sigil thing that can steal magic somehow, a-and that she knows what you are. I wasn't given all the details! Please…"

"I suggest you go to this meeting, Master." Gnarl's voice chimed before he could respond, adding after a second, "If only to get a look at your potential adversaries for the near future. This magic sigil that robs magic sounds made for our friend downstairs, hm?"

"If this is a trap of any kind, I will butcher them to the last and make you watch. Then, I will hand you over to the Minions to do with as they please." He threatened, half-serious and half feigning more cruelty than he felt he would mete out. Though after what he'd done to Adam…

"I-It's not a trap!" She promised, nodding rapidly. "I- We set traps, that's, you know, true. But this is not one. We want to make you an offer, I-I think. And if it were a trap, would we want you coming in with a sword?"

"If you thought you could beat me with that sigil, maybe, but you wouldn't have probably mentioned that either if it were a thing." He pushed off the with the thought and a heavy sigh, taking a step back and asking in a low rumble, "When and where?"

"The forest, we know you come and go as you please, and it's… More private, there." The woman answered, waiting to relax until he nodded understandingly and half turned away. Hesitant but dutiful to her job, the woman stepped back in front of him and said, "As for when… That's up to you. My boss can be there inside a few minutes and we could do this now, if you want."

"Where in the forest specifically?"

"Uh, there's a… Small clearing, 'bout two miles out from the Docks when you climb down. We know the way you take, and wanted to make it… You know, not hard to get to." She added, and he wondered if the repeated mentioning of them knowing where he goes was meant as a threat of some kind. He turned to look at the thin young woman suddenly and she flinched back, adding after a second, "If you come with me, they can be there soon. A-And you'd have a hostage."

"You'd volunteer?" He asked, eyebrows raised behind his helmet's mask. She nodded and he rounded on her, reaching out with his axe to rest the blade on her shoulder, edge against her neck. She stared at it, breathing speeding up, but didn't move and he grunted. "Fine," he sighed, removing the weapon and gesturing for her to lead the way, "go on then. Let's go, uh… I, uh, didn't catch your name."

"Emerald." She nodded, "Emerald Sustrai."

"Ah. Call me Overlord." He hesitated a moment, axe bouncing idly in his hands, bottom against the ground, and waved awkwardly with his heavily armored hand, "Hi, Emerald. Nice to meet you?"

"Uh…" The woman blinked, face a show of confusion with a weird half-smile and scrunched up eyes, but she returned the wave. "Hi?"

Greetings finally said properly, they turned to leave the Academy proper and head to meet her 'boss'.

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"Uh…" Qrow blinked once. Then twice. Then he checked his flask to make sure he was drinking whiskey and not something stronger that would have him tripping like that time Tai and Summer baked 'special cookies' for the team. Sitting in the sparse little room he'd been given - little more than a bed, a set of drawers and his minifridge in it, which made it feel empty and poor despite the Beacon trimmings - and watching the teenage looking girl rummage through his alcohol, he… Collected himself.

"Hey, now." He finally grunted, standing up from the edge of his bed and, to his credit, only slightly wobbling after a day of relaxing and drinking. The girl looked at him boredly, like she'd known he would bother her and it was just a bother, and he pointed at the fridge, "Come on now, kid. You're old enough to… Well, to know you're not old enough for this stuff. S'adult stuff right here!"

With a roll of her eyes she stood and pulled the front of her blouse down to fish for something, the older gentleman grunting and looking away with a murmured, angry swear. His eyes stayed averted until her fingers snapped in front of him and he turned, looking at her Scroll, "My name's Neo, and I'm not a kid."

"What do ya-" She shoved a plastic card into his face and after a second of flailing to get it where he could see the damn thing, he read it out, "Neopolitan… Torch. The fuck is this for- Ah, you're nineteen?"

"Yep." Her Scroll read, held just long enough for hi to read and then removed, back a second later, "I'm out of alcohol, the Overlord won't buy me any even when I pout, and Ruby's friends are all too young. But you're her uncle, so I want some of yours, please."

"Look, I don't share, kid- Neo." He amended, waving a hand at the door and rolling his eyes when her lips pursed and her cheeks puffed in a cute little pout. He just snorted at it, though, smirking and saying, "Look, you said you know Ruby, yeah? She's my niece, and her pouting doesn't work so yours definitely Dust damn won't."

"You sure?"

"Yep." He popped the 'p' and she stood, tapped a finger on her chin, and cocked her head to the side. He waved a hand at the door and grunted, "Head on out now, little bird. You won't find a drink here."

"I'll tell Ruby you touched my butt." He blinked at the Scroll when she held it out to him, slowly glancing up to the smirking girl's face, eyebrows raised challengingly, "I might even say you tried to get me to sleep with you. Me. Her friend. She'd be mad. And that would make the Overlord mad, too."

"You're with him?"

"A Mistress. Or I'm gonna be, he's strong." She nodded, smirking at some kind of joke he didn't understand.

"Fuckin'- Fine, you little… Shit." He sighed, then waved a hand at the half-empty mini-fridge and stood, pushing the girl back with a finger to the forehead. Er eyes scrunched and she pouted at him again, but he just grunted an additional, "Yeah, yeah, glare and pout away, you half-pint of aggravating."

The door shut and Neo shrugged, turning to head back to the fridge with a small smile. Ruby was a great friend to have, she supposed, grabbing a bottle of fine, aged whiskey and whistling mutely. Everyone was scared of her, or didn't want to make her sad, so she got away with whatever. She could get used to that kind of life. And if she had to latch onto Ruby to protect her and Roman, may as well make use of it. She'd been lying about being a Mistress, at least officially, but… The power this guy had, and protecting Roman?

She'd hop in bed for that, definitely.

Especially after some of this bottle of whiskey was in her.

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In the next two chapters, we will get the quest for the Blues properly started. As previously stated, I have had to wiggle around story plans to get things progressing faster as was pointed out and requested of me. No major changes, and the plot has stayed the same, but an update on that. It will start towards the end of next chapter, after dealing with Cinder and company's meeting.

Thank you ALL for reading, reviewing and being patient with me as I learned and bettered myself through this and other stories. Input is always welcomed, so long as it's constructive.

Now then...

So this chapter was a bit more serious than most have been, but I've had to have a few of those. I had things to wrap up and deal with, namely Blake and Ilia a bit. I also wanted Jaune spending time with NPR to be shown a bit on-screen, instead of simply asserted. Given none of it was, er, important in any real way, a lot of it isn't being made into a chapter for the sake of brevity. It would have just been padding, so… Nah.

Anyways, drop a Review with your thoughts, suggestions, whatever. Important links up top, and stay Twisted, boyz and gorlz.

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	33. Chapter 33

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"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby called out as she threw his door open, glancing to his bed and blinking in surprise, head tilted to the side. "Neo? Why are you here?"

The woman, bundled up in her uncle's blankets now just because she liked doing that - she knew that by now - shrugged, hands gesturing in front of herself awkwardly for a few moments before finally landing on her Uncle's mini fridge, stocked with drinks. Another shrug, and her Scroll came up, synthetic voice chiming out, "Your uncle has alcohol and I'm bored."

"Oh my god, same!" She chuckled, letting the door close and leaning against it with a sigh, sliding down the front of the door and relaxing on the floor, legs tucked against her chest comfortably. "Everyone keeps pestering me about where I went, what happened, who the guy with me is… It's frustrating, you know? A-And what happens if they figure out he's not, you know… Normal."

"Because any of us are normal."

"Pfft, fair point, I guess." Ruby rolled her eyes, giving a wry shake of her head and moving on before the other girl could say anything. Which was easier with Neo than most, given her… Quirk, Ruby noted absently. "But seriously, it's annoying. I just want 'em to leave me alone, you know?"

"I could stab them?" Neo offered quickly, rushing to hold a hand up for pause and adding, before Ruby could get onto her because Neo knew she was about to do that. She always did when Neo was being dangerous and edgy. "Not lethally, of course. Just enough to hurt them. I'm really, really good at hurting people, you know."

"Hey, no stabbing people period." She blinked when Neo's brows rose challengingly and sighed dramatically, waving her arms in front of her dismissively and, she knew, a bit childishly. But she didn't care. She got to be childish, after all. "Okay, if they deserve it you can stab them. And no, annoying me doesn't count."

"Would Jaune say that?"

"Nope, but you aren't him." She smiled at neo's exaggerated nod and let the girl swaddle herself some more before, finally, adding, "Do you know where Jaune is? I'm lookin' for him, we're supposed to get headed to the tower for dinner."

"No." She shook her head, adding a shrug when Ruby whined weakly and pouted.

"Well, I guess I'll keep looking for him." She sighed, standing and dusting the seat of her Beacon skirt of as she spoke, "Send me a text if you see him, I guess, Neo- Oh."

"I want to come to dinner with everyone, too." Neo pouted, suddenly at the foot of the bed, barely an inch from the younger woman. Ruby squeaked, flailed and fell back, the girl cocking her head and smiling innocently, holding her Scroll up, "I'm bored, and I wanna hang out with my gal pal, and the Overlord, and get good food for once. Not school crap the Headmaster is willing to give me, since I can't use any of Roman's 'criminal money' for some reason."

"Because it's, you know, criminal?" She guessed, the girl blinking slowly in a sarcastic manner. And wasn't that a though, Ruby wondered. Neo could blink sarcastically, and that was… Just a talent, really. "Okay, okay, whatever, sure. You can come along, help me find him, I guess. Just have to figure out which way he-"

"The forest." Neo's Scroll chimed, the younger girl blinking in surprise.

"But you said earlier-"

"I remembered a minute ago." Neo shrugged, grabbing her hand and pulling Ruby against her, turning to pull the door open behind the squeaking, surprised girl. She let the girl stagger, flushing, away and smiled, waving a hand at the open door, "Shall we? Quest for the boy's toy?"

"Boy's…?"

"Stupid autocorrect." Neo sighed, Ruby snorting in amusement and leading the small woman out the room.

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"So, uh, Emerald, right?" He asked, following just behind the green-haired woman as she lead them through the forest minutes later, head on a slow, purposeful pivot as they walked through the spacious trees of the forest around Beacon. Following the worn dirt paths worn as much, seemingly, by animals passing through as Grimm and Hunters of both the former varieties. She didn't speak, and he prodded, "Tell me about her. Your boss, I mean."

Ducking under a limb that had grown across the path, the woman met his eye over her shoulder and asked, "Why?"

"Because I asked, Emerald, and- Grimm." He snapped shortly and suddenly, catching the sight of red eyes through the trees and halting for a moment, half turned towards the Beowolf he'd seen. It snarled, inaudible at over twenty feet away, and he lowered his axe bracingly. "Get behind me, I'll-"

"No need, just relax." She said simply, stepping in between him and the Grimm and simply crossing her arms. Coughing, she called out, ridiculously, "Shoo, boy! Go on, get out of here!"

"I don't think-"

"Get!" She ignored him, this time adding an oddly lazy shooing motion with a hand when it sauntered closer, licking its chops. "Bad Beowolf! You know better than to harass me, so go on and get, boy!

The creature did the impossible then and paused mid step then, its head tilted to one side like a dog confused by a command, one ear raised to a sound he couldn't hear and other pressed against its head. With a huff and a shake of its head, the Grimm turned and walked away lazily, without a care in the world for him or the dark-skinned girl beside him. He hesitated for a moment before lifting his axe and allowing it to rest beside him again, letting the base rest on the ground again while he watched the monster that - supposedly - would rush headlong into heavy machine gun fire to get at a Human simply… Walking away from him and his smaller companion, as though it wasn't what it was and they weren't what they were.

"How…?" He turned on the woman who, for the first time since he'd threatened her at the start of their conversation, smiled and cocked a hip with confidence. Frowning, he turned to her and point a single long, sharp finger of his Gauntlet the way the beast had gone, "How did you do that exactly?"

"Interested in what my boss has to say now?" She asked coyly, head tilted to the side slightly as she observed him. He nodded and she returned the gesture, turning to continue on their way and waving a hand over her shoulder to beckon him to follow. He obeyed, of course, if only to hear her speak her answers, "My boss, she can steal magic, like I already told you. Right?"

"Right." He nodded quietly, watching her as they walked now, curious and wary.

"Well, stealing magic is just one of the things she can do." The girl's bright eyes met his over a shoulder and she smirked, one brow raised haughtily. Why, he couldn't gather, but if he had to wager he'd assume she was taking some enjoyment in being connected to someone that could do that. "Controlling the Grimm is just one of a pretty big number of the things she can do. Things you could have on your side."

"Save the sales pitch, Emerald Sustrai." He cut her off, turning away from her to look ahead of them instead. "I won't buy a thing from you, if I buy it at all, so don't waste either of our time or effort on them."

"Fine, just… I'm just saying, they seem like a rough group, but they have a lot to offer." She shrugged and they fell into silence, for a couple minutes. Just his armor clanking and shifting, early fall leaves crunching under his boots, and the distant, disparate sounds of the forest echoing towards, past and around them.

Four more times, they came close to Grimm, the closest being an Ursa that lumbered into their path from behind a cluster of thick, gnarled trees. It snarled and reared up, then roared, but Emerald never once showed fear. Instead, as with each Grimm before it, she shouted it down like an owner scolding a pet, and it eventually lumbered away in cowed, defeated, whimpering silence. To be able to control the Grimm was… Ridiculous, and useful, and ridiculously useful, but how were they doing it, he wondered. Magic? Could he replicate it, then?

He imagined, for a moment, leading an army of Minions, spider-riders, and Grimm into battle and smiled. Then he thought of Ruby, and the cost having these allies could demand, and frowned. There was precious little he'd pay for such a thing, but...

But listening to their offer couldn't hurt, at least.

"She's not evil." Emerald finally added, unprompted by the Overlord on her heels. He grunted either a question or an acknowledgement, even he wasn't sure which, and she elaborated. "She saved my life. I was a street rat in Mistral for-for years, using my Semblance to get by, and doing… Things I don't want to think about for extra Lien, when my Semblance couldn't help. She brought me up, out of that one track, short life I'd scraped together. Saved me."

"I doubt it was an altruistic decision, on her part." He pointed out dryly, "She probably had a use for you. Right? Some good reason to be nice to you, help you?"

"Was yours when you went after the White Fang?" The woman hissed, rounding on him now as he had done earlier, bringing them to a stop in the forest. He flinched and, instinctively, brought his axe between them in case she attacked. But she didn't, instead simply glaring up at him, "The White Fang, your attacking them, was that altruistic? Or did you have a reason to get involved?"

"They killed my people. Showed up to butcher them simply for not doing what they demanded, and no reason beyond that." He answered plainly without missing a beat, shrugging his armored shoulders. The woman nodded like that made her point and he growled, taking one step closer to meet her eyes through his helmet, letting Mana suffuse him to make them glow intimidatingly, now he could do that mostly on command, "Butchering innocent workers? A hero kills them, and sees them shut down for that."

"And what do you call someone that takes a young girl off the streets, so she doesn't have to spend all her time stealing and on her back to get by?" The young woman asked, eyes flicking to his weapons when he grunted before meeting his again and narrowing in defiance. He didn't answer and she nodded, taking the silence for what it was, and turned to continue on their way, "My point is that things aren't that simple. She's done bad things, wants to do more, but… We all do things we're not proud of."

"I guess…" He wanted to argue, but she had a point, even if only a little bit of one.

Life wasn't fair, and sometimes that meant you did things that were unsavory for good, long term reasons. He'd done it a few times himself, after all, and argued to Tai that ruthlessness to protect his people and his goals was a good thing. Adam Taurus sprang to mine first and foremost, and though he didn't regret an inch of it, it would serve as a very good example of doing a bad thing for a good reason.

"Fine." He finally grunted, rolling his eyes and sighing tiredly as they walked. "I already planned on hearing her out either way, so nothing's changed." Except now, he had a few things to think about. And speaking of things to think about, "You know I'm after the Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"How? Ozpin, my people, and the Fang I have killed should be the only ones that know about that." He asked sharply, watching the woman's reaction. She flinched, and her shoulders stiffened, but her gait continued uninterrupted and she kept her silence. She was a good actor, at least, he supposed, before speaking up again, "I don't like not knowing how you all know so much about me. Makes me hesitant to trust you. Not a good way to start a meeting, now is it?"

"Ask her, I'm not… I'm not allowed to talk about things like that freely." She glanced over her shoulder and gave him a gesture that was a mix of shrug and nod, "Don't yu have things your people aren't allowed to just talk about with anyone that asks?"

"I'm not 'just anyone'. Now am I?" He pointed out, the woman shrugging again. After a second he sighed and shook his head, letting out a groan as he rolled his heavier left arm at the shoulder to stretch it and went on, "Fine, whatever. You have a point, again, so I'll let it go. But I expect some Evil damned answers when I get there."

"I know."

"Good, because if I don't like what I hear, you are the one I come after first." She stiffened again but simply nodded, seemingly resigned to the potential danger she was in.

She knew he would come after her if anything went wrong, but didn't seem afraid of that fact at all. Instead, she accepted it without complaint. That kind of blind, complete loyalty, he'd admit, was tempting to try and get on his side in a way. He knew he'd never, ever make a move to secure her regardless of what came, of course, but trying to engender that in someone else was a tempting thought. A tempting thought, but one for thinking about later, he decided finally as they reached the clearing in the woods.

"That's them." Emerald nodded towards them, as though he'd not have guessed that. Swallowing anxiously, she added quietly, "She'll, uh, she'll want me to go over there and update her. Let her know you're good to talk, all that, so she can relax a bit. Is that, uh, is that okay?"

"Go." He grunted, reaching out with his Gauntlet to lean against a tree on his end of the clearing. She took a step and he added, before she could go, "Signal me when I should come over. And remember, you play any games…"

"You'll kill me." He nodded and she grimaced, and then shrugged and sighed dismissively. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that then, shall we? I'd rather not die, if I get the choice." But if she didn't, she wouldn't hesitate to do it for her mistress, he was sure. Finally she shrugged and offered a weak, "Uh, bye, Overlord?"

"Hm." He grunted and jerked his head towards the distant trio for her to go, watching the woman walk quickly away and taking the moment to look around the clearing.

As she'd said, it was a small thing. Enough that he would put money that they could hear his threats to the girl. Only about ten yards from where he stood to where they did, and a third of that wide. Long and thin, with a fallen tree covering up the woods on one side, the limbs shattered under it and collapsed on top of it in as good a wall as nature could ever hope to build. The few gaps he could discern had been overgrown by small bushes, and vines crawled further along it, only feeding his imagination of it being a wall. A wall that could hide… Anything, really, behind the old and moss-covered limbs, if they wanted to trap him. And his paranoia flared at the threat, there.

But he forced it aside when the green-haired woman waved him over, her 'mistress' standing behind her, a hand on a cocked hip and dressed in a short, red dress. Her long legs were left bare and, from the way she held herself and her admittedly good looks, he wagered she enjoyed men looking at them. At her. Just the way she stood spoke of confidence and self-assurety, the kind of pride that was earned, not faked. Emerald took her spot to her right and back, slightly. Respectful, but loyal, like a servant. Like his Minions.

On her other side, ahead of her in what he guessed was meant to be protective and in what he doubted was needed, a young man stood. Silver-haired, dressed in blue and black, he stood still with a very different kind of assuredness to his boss. His was cocky and self-assured in a way that screamed immaturity, and that he'd both been in enough fights to fight, and not enough to be more naturally confident. Instead, he feigned it and glared like Jaune had said something about his mother, trying to intimidate.

Of course, Jaune knew enough about fighters and fighting now not to be scared of that anymore. Even if, a year ago, he'd have balked at it. It was the third person who'd been waiting for them that frightened him, though, and he felt no shame in admitting his instincts were going insane over him.

Where the rest stood, he squatted a few feet away from the others, long leather coat bundled around his ankles. Two odd looking, bladed gauntlets rested on his hands, like Yang's in a way but somehow more bestial. Like claws, even sheathed and from a distance. He was lithe and, for a Hunter, plainly dressed besides, with a long and black ponytail that drooped to the ground, with the way he held his head. Cocked at an angle and smiling widely, he waved a hand at Jaune across the clearing and called a friendly, cheery 'why hello there' like they were old friends meeting up for drinks. He returned it awkwardly, unsurely, and the man crowed in bright, insane laughter.

When he moved to join them, finally, that man was the one he watched. And the man watched Jaune in turn, eyes widening and lips pulling back impossibly further as he approached.

"It's good to meet you finally, Overlord." The dark haired woman spoke, her voice bright, happy and welcoming. And somehow, not in a way that sounded fake to his ears. She seemed genuinely happy to see him, and he chalked it up to either good acting skills, or her genuine pleasure at meeting who she assumed to be a coming ally. Either way, she bowed her head slightly in respect and offered, "I hope that my Em, here, was not too much trouble on the way? She says you had a rather… Heated discussion, at one point."

"It wasn't anything important, just forget about it." He dismissed, noting the slight relaxing from the green-haired woman at the words. "I'm surprised she'd mention it, really."

"Oh, really?" The woman's brow arched and her head tilting to the side, the blonde's eyes narrowing on her shining amber ones suspiciously. Waving her hand towards the girl, and in a coy voice, she asked, "Why is that so surprising?"

"Because you might have been angry with her, for talking back to me." Since it was apparently a recruiting drive, it made sense to him. He shrugged, watching the amber eyed woman nod understandingly, trying to gauge her as he spoke, and finally going on, "I figured she might have kept that to herself. It's kind of admirable, that kind of honesty and loyalty."

"Are you…" The woman hesitated, for a moment, "Are you complimenting my subordinate's loyalty?"

"Yes." He nodded with a tilt of his head, adding, "Is that… Weird?"

"Oh yes, very, very weird." The strange man on the ground chuckled, grinning ever wider and turning to look up at the woman. Finally, he saw a crack, so small he almost missed it, in her mask when he rose and stepped towards her, back to the armored Overlord and arms spread to either side of himself. "And you! So rude! Didn't our Queen teach you proper manners for how these things go? Why have you introduced none of us!"

"I-"

"My name," the man interrupted as he turned, cackling at the red woman's affronted expression and suffering sigh, one hand on the back of his waist and other outstretched to the side in a bow, "is Tyrian Callows, assassin extraordinaire, connoisseur of fine knives, and very friendly neighborhood killer. A pleasure, I'm sure."

"You know Emerald already," the woman sighed, waving a hand between her green haired companion and the other man, "and this is Mercury Black. They serve me directly, further my plans, arrange meetings like this, those sorts of things. Mercury, do say hello to our new friend."

"Hello." The man grunted and nodded a greeting, but didn't say anything besides, seemingly content instead to watch Tyrian straighten and step to Jaune's side, a few feet away while he watched the proceedings.

Finally, the woman bowed her head slightly again and pressed a hand to her chest, over her heart, "And my name is Cinder Fall. I trust you are aware of the Maidens, as you yourself wield great magic and that old fool must have tried to enlist you already…?" This time, Jaune was the one to grunt an answer, and Cinder went on, "I am the woman who attacked the Maiden of Fall, and stole her powers."

"Well, most of them." Tyrian cackled, laughing outright when the woman glared at him. "Oh, wipe that look off you face, Cindy. Wouldn't want wrinkles… Or knife wounds, haha~!"

"Is he…"

"No, I am quite insane, I assure you." The man laughed, shrugging and throwing his hands in the air as though as exasperated by it as they were. "Such is life. Some are born short, some with tails, some slow as snails, and some… Well, some are missing a few screws, shall we say, but I can still have fun! My Queen loves me, and lets me serve her, so I am well as can be!"

"You just said you were crazy, though." Jaune pointed out dryly.

"Oh yes, but that was then! Don't you see? That was then! Then doesn't matter anymore." He laughed, spinning on his heel and bowing again, like he was dancing for some reason. "Ah, and this is now! So much better than then, don't you think?"

"Okay, I'm just going to…" He turned, looking past the man, and coughed, "Cinder, right?" A nod and a sympathetic, understanding smile. Ignoring Tyrian's affronted, suffering whimper and pout, the Overlord tried to direct them back onto what he wanted to know, "How is it you knew I was fighting the White Fang? The only people that are supposed to know that serve me, or Ozpin. So how do you know about it?"

"I… Was working with them." The woman finally admitted, watching him closely as he tensed, grip tightening around the haft of his axe warningly. Even Tyrian's manic state broke, the man straightening and stretching his fingers, wary for a fight as the woman went on, before Jaune could do anything. "Our interests aligned, in the past. Recently, there'd been… Tensions, however, and in short order I was sure that our companionship was going to-"

"Banesaw broke in interrogation, Cinder Fall." He interrupted suddenly, sharply, letting his axe hang forward in his hand, the blade curved from where he stood so it looked like it would tickle her chin. She saw the threat for what it was and went quiet, watching the weapon warily in spite of her being a good three feet out of its furthest reach. "He claimed their orders came from a woman. A woman with amber eyes and dark, long hair. Sound familiar to you, Tyrian?"

"It does." The man answered, eyes flicking to the red clothed woman warily and then back to him. Grinning, he asked, "Are you going to start a fight over it, hmm? Are you, are you, are you?! Oh please do, it would be fun! Oh but my Queen… She would be angry… But if you go first..."

"Overlord- Jaune," she amended, holding a hand out between them in a gesture of peace, palm spread towards the ground in a wave, "This meeting, it's not for this. We aren't here for this, you aren't here for this."

"No, no, I'm supposed to be here for an offer, but I won't hear a damn thing from you except begging and dying." He snarled at the woman, turning to regard Tyrian at the sound of metal scraping metal, his claw like blades extended readily. Emerald, seeing the situation brewing, joined him, drawing two sickels and stepping in front of Cinder protectively, one arm in front of each of them defensively. "I don't have a problem with anyone else here, or your boss, Callows. Only Cinder, for what she ordered done to my people."

"I didn't order them to-"

"If you are only after revenge against her and not us, then perhaps we can come to an agreement outside of her? Leave her out of negotiations entirely, and seek an accord between us rulers?" A voice asked, the group opposite him turning their backs on him, ignoring him entirely.

A choice that quickly made sense, a quartet of floating, glowing Grimm orbs lazily hovering into the clearing slowly with the statement. Tendrils moving like jellyfish with a dozen small, wiry tendrils ending a few inches from the ground and four more long, finger thick red tendrils ending in what looked spearheads. The tops of the Grimm, for they were obviously Grimm from the black hide and white plating, ended in orbs of what looked like glass of some kind, impossibly smooth for a natural thing and pulsing the same red as a Grimm's eyes.

"What the actual fuck…" He murmured, taking a single step back and bringing his axe across his chest.

"Oh come now, Jaune. I cannot be the most insane thing you have seen in the last year or so." The forward most, largest orb chuckled, listing through the air past the group and into the middle of their meeting, the other three surrounding it protectively. Behind the Grimm, Cinder's cohorts closed ranks with her warily, themselves clearly unsure about what was happening while Tyrian knelt and smiled manically, watching the orbs with reverent eyes.

"You're… A Grimm." He murmured, nodding his head at the information and taking a breath before shrugging and feigning apathy as best he could.

"Yes, in a… Manner of speaking, I am Grimm." The voice, feminine in spite of seemingly being naught but tentacles and glass, answered. After a moment, the Grimm chuckled again and listed even closer, stopping less than a foot from him and tilting its glass face forward, "Look in the glass, young man. You'll see part a secret that old fool likely hasn't told you of in full."

He did so, eyes narrowing on the moderately large orb of the creature as instructed, Mana surging within him readily in case the orb or the others tried anything. There, he saw a woman with pale skin veined in what looked like inky black, seated on a throne he couldn't make out terribly well. Her red lips pulled up in a smile and angrily veined hands waved at him, red eyes seeming to glint with some concealed emotion he couldn't understand. Amusement, he expected, or some kind of anticipation.

"As I said, a Grimm in a manner of speaking." The woman chuckled darkly, head tilting to the side in amusement, giving Jaune a look at her neck. Not in a sensual way, he was sure, more to let him see more skin and the dark veins spider webbing it. "Now, how do you feel about that, hmm?"

"Fuck me sideways…"

"Ah, I'll leave that to Cinder, if you are so inclined as to demand it from me." The woman laughed, Jaune sighing and shaking his head. "Now, to talk about terms…?"

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"There's footprints here, and there." Ruby noted, kneeling on the forest floor beside a tree, Crescent Rose pointing to the sky in her off hand while her good one traced out the print's contours and measured its depth. Neo watched and, for her benefit, the Huntress in training explained, "They don't call us Hunters for nothing, see the bigger boot prints? How they're sunken into the ground, around the trees where it's a bit softer?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, either that means someone else is out here wandering around, that means Jaune came this way." Neo asked how she could be so sure and Ruby shrugged as she stood, searching out with her eyes for the next sets of prints while she answered, "Jaune is one of the only people in Beacon that wears heavy enough armor to make those, and the way he lets his axe hit the ground leaves those little round indents by his right foot. See? There's two of 'em."

"I see them, yeah." Neo nodded, one finger thumbing keys on her Scroll with practiced ease. "Do they teach you this stuff in those Hunter schools?"

"Oh yeah. Younger kids, we learned history, first aid, tracking, maintenance, map reading and making, that sort of stuff." She nodded, leading the way through the woods, Crescent Rose in rifle form in her hands ready to snap up at a moment's need. As they walked, more to fill the void Neo naturally made in a conversation, the younger woman kept talking, "You don't want kids doing anything too dangerous, you know?"

"Would make them stronger." Neo pointed out, the taller brunette giving her a slight glare at the statement. "What? It's true, even if it's not nice to say. Stronger trainees mean stronger Hunters, right?"

"Numbers matter too, Neo." Ruby sighed, thinking up an explanation she could give on the spot, "Okay, so, numbers matter. If you have ten unstoppable Hunters, but twenty paths to cover, they'll get overrun, hit from both sides, and… Well you know what happens when they get overrun."

"They become dinner for the Creeps." Neo messaged, Ruby grimacing but nodding regardless. "Not a good way to go."

"Not at all, it isn't, no. So we go for a happy medium. Best equipment Lien can buy, hardest training and education possible without cutting down the numbers too much and making them unable to handle anything." Ruby finished, adding after a second's thought, "Imagine that same road example, but in terms of sides of the Valean Wall. Imagine the damage Grimm overrunning one section could do, if we couldn't hold them back or respond in numbers."

"Bad times for everyone." Neo agreed, eyes narrowing suddenly on something ahead of them. Flicking her Scroll into a pocket with one hand she grabbed Ruby with the other and pulled her behind a tree, gesturing with two fingers at her eyes, and then pointing the way they'd been going, and holding up five fingers, clenching a fist, and spreading four again.

"You saw nine contacts up ahead?" A short, curt nod and Neo turned, sliding against the young Rose and crouching in front of her at the base of a large tree, peaking around it. She snapped her fingers then and half-turned at the waist, holding up her left hand and clenching it at the elbow, and Ruby guessed, "You… You see Jaune with them?"

"Yes." Neo answered with a curt nod, peeking around the corner and holding up four fingers, then pointing at Ruby and Neo in turn with them. "Four other people."

Then she held up the four again and made a shape with her hands like claws, the fingers hooked at the ends, "Four Grimm."

Finally, she held up a single hand, all fingers straight in a 'stop' motion, and Ruby guessed, "They're not doing anything."

"What do you mean- Move, please." Neo listened without question, either from discipline and training or knowing what Ruby was going to do, and once again slid against the girl, this time flowing impossibly like water between her and the tree and standing behind her, holding a stick in her hand and glaring at it. With a flick, and the muted sound of flowing, scraping glass it changed into a thin, guardless rapier, like a needle but a foot and a half long. "Your Semblance is cool…"

Kneeling in the dirt, Ruby hefted her rifle and swapped her grip around, left hand to the trigger and right gripping the bottom of the weapon. Drawing her hood over her head to block any light getting in her scope, she leaned out, Neo silently wrapping an arm around her chest as she did to help her see as well as she could hope but not poke out too terribly far. Using the mid-range spotter scope she looked ahead of them, through several bushes, at the armored form of her boyfriend. True to Neo's claim, she could see Grimm, too. Tendriled jellyfish like ones, that she'd not heard bout before, but that didn't seem aggressive in any way, simply hovering in front of her Overlord, the tall, long haired man next to him saying something.

To their side she heard rustling and turned, a lithe, mostly unarmored Beowolf pushing through and meeting her eyes, snarling lowly, "Oh… Flapjacks without any syrup- Neo!"

The Grimm leapt with a snarl but Neo was faster, grabbing ahold of Ruby and yanking her away, leaving behind a wall of prisms and an imitation of them, kneeling for the monster to pounce on. And pounce it did, their visages shattering under it like glass and Ruby's rifle snapping up when it scented and then saw them a few feet away. Crescent Rose cracked once as it leapt and ripped an arm away in a shower of ichor, bone and matted fur. The Grimm hit the ground and rolled, whimpering and snarling desperately until Neo stepped in and punched her little rapier into the Grimm where it shattered in its chest.

"Neo!" Ruby turned, the girl flicking away the broken piece of her weapon and glancing to her, before glancing past her with wide, dual pink eyes.

The woman grabbed Ruby again and yanked her behind her, tossing her to the ground as blades whistled by where her head had been, and the ponytailed man sneered down at them, "Why hello there! Oh, I am so sorry, you are the little girl involved with him aren't you?"

"H-Him? You mean- Oh! Y-Yes!" Ruby grunted, the man dropping from the low branch he'd stood on and landing in a crouch, slinking to the side like a cat. Standing and dusting herself off, Ruby tried to put on an air of some kind of calm, Crescent Rose across her chest and Neo stood between her and the man. "I'm his girlfriend, in fact. A-And you should know he won't like you attacking me."

"Ah, it was a misunderstanding!" The man crowed, leaning down into Neo's face and asking quietly, nose to nose with the small, unarmed woman, "And are you one of his little... Playthings as well?"

"N-No." Ruby answered, thinking fast and glancing between the man's suddenly widening smile, before grabbing Neo's hand with her left one and yanking her back. Stammering and flushing, Ruby cut him off before he could do anything, "S-She's mine, actually. My p-p-plaything."

"Oh?" The man smiled, cocking his head to the side. "I don't recall seeing anything that told me that! Prove it, would you please? The others are waiting, for one guest or two, it doesn't matter to me, but I suppose it does to you!"

Beside her, Neo glanced up at the girl, tilted her head, and then shrugged. Turning, she grabbed the girl's collar, ignored her squeak, and pressed her lips to the startled girl's own. Rub's mind went blank and skin went scarlet but, knowing Neo's goal, she just managed to keep from yanking away. The kiss was short, and simple, and surprisingly chaste considering Neo's proclivity to tease, but did the job of convincing the surprised but otherwise apathetic man well enough. And so, when Neo release the collar of her blouse and Ruby staggered back a step, the small women just gave the surprised and amused looking man a look.

"Well, I suppose that will do!" The man chuckled, bowing at the waist, "Tyrian Callows, at your service, young ladies!"

"R-Ruby." The girl stammered, still fighting the blush from the kiss, meaningless or not. "Ruby Rose. And this is Neopolitan."

"Oh?" The man straightened, giving the shortest of the two a look, "Like the ice cream? Oh, I do so love that flavor! Ah, but now isn't the time to share ice cream preferences, my goddess awaits!" The man's smile vanished and he straightened, flexing his fingers threateningly, "Come along now, children. One shouldn't keep her majesty waiting!"

Standing behind them, the man gestured with a flourish for them to head out into the clearing. Jaune spotted Ruby and she heard him swear, relaxing from his ready position and raising his axe, "Evil damn it… Of course. Ruby, what are you two doing out here?"

"Um…" She shrugged, what little she wore, and hoped her makeup hadn't been smeared by Neo, "I came to get you… For dinner?"

"Of course you did…" Jaune sighed, shaking his head, "And why do you have lipstick around your mouth?"

"Uh… W-Well, um…" Ruby stammered and glance to Neo, who raised her eyebrows and winked at her, only worsening Ruby's condition. "I-I'll explain later!"

"Why did Neo just-"

"I. Will. Explain. Later." Ruby repeated, smiling stiffly and staring him down until he shrugged and surrendered. For a change of topic if nothing else, Ruby asked, "S-So, um… What kind of Grimm is that?"

"The impatient but amused kind." The Grimm chuckled, center orb bobbing slightly with the action like a nod. Or a way of indicating which to look at, Ruby supposed. Turning slightly, the glass creature asked, "Are we to discuss deals or not, then? I hear you have dinner plans, apparently. Ah, and introductions?"

"Ruby, Neo, meet the Queen of the Grimm." Jaune sighed, adding in a lower tone, "Which is apparently something that exists, because of course it does. Because not a single Evil thing in my damn life can be simple… Can it? I just want to go get the damn Blues!"

"Comes with the territory, I assure you. Nothing is easy, nor simple, nor straightforward. Better to get used to it now, truly." The Grimm Queen answered with a bright, tinkling laugh when the armored man just sighed beleaguered. "Ah, and you my dear… Your eyes are quite fetching. A nice, bright silver."

"What." Ruby blinked, pointing a finger at the thing, "Grimm Queen?"

"Yes, that's what he said." The orb answered, listing to the side slightly, "Why? And oh, you look so pale- My, my."

"Night night." Ruby managed to get out, before her legs crumpled under her and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. In the back of her head, before she lost consciousness, she registered she was fainting.

And that was so annoying… Gnarl would never shut up about it, she was sure.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"Neo, carry Ruby over to the tree and let her lay down for a while, would you?" The small, mute woman nodded, lifting the woman up bridal style in spite of her smaller stature. Crescent Rose, Tyrian picked up, turning to lay it gently on the unconscious girl's lap while Jaune meted out more instructions, "When she's up, make sure she's okay, and come let me know. Politely, preferably."

"Tyrian?"

"My queen?" The man crowed, smiling and turning to the orb, "What ever do you need? You need only ask and I will make it yours!"

"Watch the young women, make sure no Grimm escape my attentions and attack them." The Grimm Queen ordered, Tyrian pouting but, after a short moment, shrugging and smiling at the Grimm woman's orders, turning to follow Neo over to the tree. "Now, I believe were set to start out negotiations before your… Woman was discovered?"

"There isn't much negotiating to do." Jaune shrugged, turning back to the Grimm and then glaring at Cinder as he spoke. "I was about to say that when Ruby's gun went off. Not unless you're willing to hand her over to me, trussed up like a birthday present, that is. Which I kind of doubt is really on the-"

"And if I gave you her, would you agree to ally with me?" The Grimm asked, sounding as nonchalant as though she'd asked his opinion for dinner. "If I allowed you to have young cinder to do with as you please, what would that turn your mind to? Allegiance would, I feel, not be too terrible a cost for something so desired."

"But my Mistress, the Maiden powers-"

"Could go into either of those women, or your own little girl." Salem cut her off, the orb spinning to watch her forebodingly. In a tone like ice, the queen spoke plainly, "Your value is in your utility, loyalty, and success. Your utility is not unique, with two women here of age to take your power and do as I need, and your successes have made an enemy of one who I would want to be an ally."

"This," the Queen spoke coolly, "is your own fault, truly, for not thinking through your plans."

"What-" Without warning, the closest Grimm orb that had listed towards her struck, tendrils ensnaring around the woman's arms first while she cried out and staggered under the weight. "M-My Queen, please, don't do this I- Ah!"

Aura sparking along her skin as though being struck at every inch simultaneously, the Grimm's tendrils spread further across her skin and under her clothes, the orb taking a place on her shoulder. She wobbled and grunted in pain as they spread along her body, between her breasts and legs, and suddenly constricted around her. With a cry of pain the woman sank to her knees, bound around her knees and ankles. One of the thicker tendrils reached out and snared around her wrists, binding them while another wrapped around her throat and choked her, more Aura sparking and blood flowing from small cuts along her arms and legs while Jaune watched, mouth slightly agape at the display.

"Please, my Queen, I-I am loyal! I haven't earned this treatment!" Her eyes, bright and amber, met Jaune's and she quieted, Emerald at her side grabbing at the tentacles and pulling desperately at them. That was, until a second latched onto her back and did her much the same, dragging her down onto her side and choking her into silence when she cried out for Cinder.

"And what of you?" Salem asked Mercury, standing with narrowed, hard eyes and looking between his downed boss and partner in abject terror. The man's dark, off-silver eyes turned on the Grimm and Salem asked, third of her smaller Grimm rearing its tendrils up slightly, "Do I need to truss you up, or do you confess more loyalty to me than to this likely doomed half-Maiden?"

"Mercury, please, don't let this just happen!" Emerald tried, red eyes wide and lips parting in a grunt of pain as the tendrils binding her constricted punishingly, the woman's eyes closing against it, grinding out a, "M-Mercury!"

"Cinder is one thing, but Em is another. M-Ma'am, I mean." Mercury grunted, watching the tendrils and the groaning women both. Pursing his lips and curling his hands into fists, then uncurling them to force himself to relax, he finished, "I-If you will let Em live, whatever this guy says about Cinder, then I won't lift a finger against you."

"Are you bargaining?" Salem questioned amusedly, "What makes you think you are in any position to-"

"Fuck it. Ruby would kill me if I didn't do something about this..." Jaune grunted, stepping between the orb Grimm and the young man, axe across his chest, suddenly. Salem's Grimm recoiled and slithered back, and jaune gave the man a long look over before he sighed and turned his gaze on the Grimm, "I want Cinder handed over to me for punishment, but left alive. And Emerald is under my protection, if we go forward."

"Why, if I may ask?"

"Because loyalty like hers is something I respect and want on my side." Jaune shrugged, answering honestly without a hint of hesitation or shame. "You want to talk? We do it another time, when emotions aren't high, my advisor is here, and my Mistress isn't unconscious. And you don't hurt people who haven't earned it."

"Very well, as you say." A tendril tightened around Cinder's throat and the woman gasped, mouth opening and closing like a sucking for air desperately, and Salem went on, "She won't die, only pass out. Then Tyrian can truss her up for you, and you can carry her to wherever you wish to take her. Do let her live, for a time, though. I need a replacement for her, before I let her die."

"I'll do the courtesy." He nodded, trying to ignore the sounds of the woman gagging and the sight of her writhing on the ground as much as he tried to ignore how good it felt.

She'd caused all this, after all, ordering the Fang to do as they had. He'd long ago accepted his darker impulses and enjoyments as part of himself, and watching this was no different. Finally, her eyes rolled into her head and she stilled, the Grimm persisting in strangling her for a few moments longer before releasing her, the Grimmling floating up and away carefully, in case she roused.

"Tyrian!" Salem's voice was like a whip, the man turning from Neo, who he'd been talking to, and loping towards them quickly. When he reached them, she instructed simply, "Use your ties and bind Cinder properly, our hopeful ally here has decided to… Take her off our hands, for a time, while we speak. Ah, and don't forget the Aura blocker."

The small bracelet came out and Tyrian knelt, smiling and cackling as he latched it onto her hand and pressed a button, locking the imprisonment device and activating it at the same time.

Jaune nodded then, and said simply, "My Minions will be here shortly, to carry her back. We won't kill her, as agreed on, and the show of good faith is appreciated." They wouldn't kill her, but hurting her wasn't off the table, he left unsaid. "I'll give Tyrian my Scroll number, he can call me when you want to talk again."

"Very well." The Queen answered demurely, Grimm lifting the wide-eyed, green-haired girl from the ground, "And since you care for her, know this. If Cinder dies, and I will know you rest assured, then I will have Emerald here, sweet little thing she is, broiled alive in an iron bull."

"I understand." He had not intention of killing the woman as yet regardless, so the threat didn't worry him.

But, threats made, the Grimm and her servant left them, Tyrian carrying the struggling, cursing Emerald off with him as he went. Once they were gone he sighed, arms drooping beside him.

"Why can't anything be Evil damn simple…"

"Not in the cards, I'm afraid, my illustrious Master." Gnarl chimed in his ear, helpful as always. Though the omnipresent annoyance did sound rather happy with the capture of the woman laying on the ground, hands and feet zip tied at her ankles and wrists. "That said, exacting a toll from her hide for what she's done? That will be a delectable treat for myself, if you would be so beneficent."

Across the field, he saw Neo standing and waving, a stern expression on her face and both hands raised high, snapping desperately for his attention. She saw him looking her way and she waved for him to come over, the blonde giving the unconscious woman a glance and then shrugging and starting the walk over to her. It was barely over ten feet away and, frankly, if Salem let a Grimm of some kind wander up and maul her, that wasn't his fault in the least.

"Hey, Ruby." He murmured, kneeling as the girl recovered and smiling behind his helmet for a moment before reaching up to lift it off, not bothering to fuss with the coif and padded cap under it. He smiled even more as she sat up and leaned back against the tree behind her and he asked in a quiet voice, "How're you doing?"

"I just met a Grimm queen, got kissed by a girl, confronted by a crazy man and fainted in front of a tentacle monster, Jaune. I'm just fine, thank you for asking." Ruby pouted, Jaune's eyebrows spiking at the second option, turning a look on the multi-colored woman lounging against the tree beside Ruby, who flushed and tucked her knees against her chest, eyebrows high and challenging, "Say something, Jaune. Go ahead."

"I'm good, but thanks." He shrugged, chuckling and laying his axe in the grass beside him, laying his arms across his knees and adding with a small, muted shrug, "You can beat me into a state of unconsciousness with the wooden spoon of terror later on."

"I will if you say anything." She threatened, tucking her legs tighter against her chest and resting her chin on her knees, turning to look at Neo beside her and glowering, "And you… Need to learn to ask before you do things."

Neo's only response was to snicker mutely, clutching at her sides as she soundlessly laughed.

"I got her. Ruby. I-I fucking got her." Jaune interrupted, Ruby turning suddenly to meet his eyes and his smile. He turned his head and pointed at the heap of red material and exposed, flawless skin a couple yards away. "Cinder Fall, she's the one that ordered the Fang to gather money and Dust whatever it took, and wherever it came from."

"That's amazing, Jaune!" The girl shot forward, petals flurrying behind her in a tornado, into his chest in a hug, nuzzling his neck in spite of his armor. Pulling away, and beaming a smile, she asked, "What next?"

"We get her to the Tower, and… Talk about some things." He stood, carrying her with him and setting her on her feet without a second thought. Grimacing he added after a second, and a glance behind her, "Also, uh… Neo is being buffeted by your petals, and looks irritated and vaguely like a wedding decoration piece."

"Huh?" Turning, the young woman met Neo's glower, the smaller woman standing with a slouch, the front of her body covered in red flower petals where she stood. Chuckling, the woman stepped to the side and away from Jaune, letting the petals flow against the tree instead, and stammered a, "Uh, s-sorry, Neo?"

The small woman raised a single, petal laden hand, the middle finger pointing into the sky meaningfully, and Jaune sighed, "Oh boy, here we go…" It was going to be at least an hour with this nonsense. Sighing, the young Overlord reached down to pick his helmet up and turning, spotting green and brown bodies filing out of the woods and raising his voice, "Ah! Now we can head back, and… Not kill each other over flower petals?"

"No promises." Neo's Scroll chimed, the woman stomping by and brushing the petals off of her to little avail.

All he could do is sigh and call out for the Minions, leading them over to the now groaning woman on the ground and smiling as they surrounded her and she came around, looking at smiling Minions with fear etched across her face, "Now, we have a dinner to get to. And you," he pointed a finger at the downed woman, "get to stick around for desert. Sound fun for you?"

"I don't-"

"Because it sounds awesome to me, let me tell you." He interrupted, chuckling and waving at her dismissively as he stepped back. "Ah, you'll see. Don't worry, I made a believer out of Adam, and I'll make a believer out of you too."

"You think you can just threaten me like that?" She snarled, pushing herself up on her knees and glaring hate at him. "That you can treat me like some weak little thing to push around and amuse yourself with? Because if you do-"

"Actually, I think you are one of the most dangerous women I know." He interrupted quietly, kneeling in the dirt and shoving his armored mask into her face, glaring through the eyeholes at her while Ruby and Neo watched. "But see, Adam was too. Adam was one of the most dangerous men I knew of, and I ripped his fucking arm off with my bare, er, with my Gauntlet."

He raised the clawed thing, curling and uncurling his fist threateningly, and went on, "You are dangerous, but right now? You're trussed up for dinner, turkey, and that little bangle means you have no Aura." She glanced to it and ground her teeth, and he went on, "I don't have any either, but it hasn't stopped me killing people with it before. But you know that already, don't you?"

"I-"

"Can talk at the Tower, when I come to see you." He snapped, enjoying the power over her he held now, with her on the grund and he standing above her. Turning, he waved her off dismissively and grunted, "Minions, take her to the Tower. Gnarl should be waiting for her when you get there."

She growled insults at him and he chuckled, ignoring them until she gave up, their group walking towards the spider cave. Only once he reached it did he realize that he'd forgotten to mention the giant god damn spiders…

Her scream when one of those showed up to carry her for his Minions was priceless.

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	34. Chapter 34

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"Y-You're sure?" The understandably nervous Faunus asked, shoulders sloped and head bowed as the Minions around them eyed her, her hands rubbing together with all the anxiety of a cat trapped in a house of automated rocking chairs. In spite of the leather pants and and fur-covered skirts and jacket she'd been given at Blake's asking, the woman still managed to shiver in the cold or her anxiety and added, "I-I don't want to start anything you know. Better to be forgotten in the corner than, you know…"

"Than what?" Blake asked, following the younger Faunus' watery eyes, an effect of the cold wind and not fear, to look up at the dar, foreboding tower. The older woman grimaced and sighed, pulling the fur hood of her, surprise, fur cloak closer around her head and giving it a shake. "He's not that bad, Ilia, I promise. It… It looks worse than it is, I guess, as cliche as that really sounds."

"I know. You said. And I trust you, Bla-"

They were interrupted by the doors that lead in and up, through the stairs and higher into the Dark Tower proper, the armored form of the Overlord thundering through with chittering, excited Minions just behind. Along with a trio of the giant spiders he fielded, each the size of three men and covered in harvested Grimm plating, thick hairs protruding between and leather and chain holding the armor in place so they almost looked like demonic Atlesian automatons. A trio of Minions, one Green in lighter leather with a hood over his head and two Browns with thicker hides, rough hewn metal helmets and long spears held down like lances on either side of the Green, sat on the center of each of their backs.

Before the spiders and the spider-rider trios, the dark-armored Overlord leading a cluster of eager, tittering, cackling Guard-Minions, Hunter-Minions and the tool carrying, lighter clothed variety who served servant roles and construction or maintenance around the Tower. The way he walked, head held high and shoulders squared, with his axe swinging through the air beside him, gave him an aura she'd only ever been able to describe as 'commanding joy', when she'd seen White Fang commanders coming back from victories and doing the same. It was infectious, to say the least, and went a long way to explaining the excited chitter and skittering of the Minions around him, even after they'd spent a long day working at their various duties.

The reason why showed itself soon enough, Blake and Ilia both stepping away with wide, anxious eyes, the prisoner clutching Blake's arm in abject fear and shock. A fear and shock reflected by the White Fang prisoners milling about the courtyard doing whatever tasks they'd been given, now they saw their captor's penchant for cruelty.

Between the two spiders - which themselves were a terrifying sight, once Ilia had likely not seen in this dangerous state - was what had scared them so much. A woman in a red dress, the edges of it torn and tattered and a long cut along the inside of a thigh that even now was bleeding slowly. She tried to carry herself with dignity, but the long ropes held by the Greens on the spiders would be tugged every time she did, yanking her forward and off balance, or a Minion would strike her somewhere for the same reason. Each time, the resurrected Overlord would turn and watch, but never would he intervene.

"I-I thought he wasn't that bad, Blake!" Ilia, surprisingly, was the first one of them to speak, stepping as clear of the scene as she could without leaving the courtyard and earning her captors' ire.

"He's… He's not. He's never been like this." The Faunus answered, watching the young Overlord drag her to the platform in the center, where she was bound by thick hide ropes to the wood, where she glared balefully at the man with a strange lack of fear in her eyes. A moment later she made the connection, remembered when she'd seen this kind of ruthlessness and rage. "He's never like this, except back when…"

When that woman, Emilia, had been killed he'd lost himself just like this. Ruby had told them a little about it, the absolute butchery he'd levelled against the Fang's soldiers.

"Blake…?"

"Go back to the room, the Minions are too distracted to care about you being by yourself as long as you don't wander." Not that Ilia would, she could feel the chameleon shaking like a leaf and, when she turned, the girl had shifted her skin to a pale white in an effort to hide. A vain one, with her dark furs and leathers, but instincts were instincts, after all.

"But, are you…?"

"I'm certain, they're all watching… Watching that." She waved a hand towards where Jaune was kneeling, claws gripping the woman's chin and forcing her to meet his eyes while he spoke to her. Whatever he had to say was hidden in the sounds of the spiders chittering and shifting, and all of the Minions' cheering and jeering. The regret was immediate, Ilia only panicking more, and Blake sighed, "Please, Ilia, just-"

"Trust you. Yeah, Blake. I-I know, and I… I do." And either as an excuse not to be here or because she trusted her, genuine or forced from the situation it was the same regardless, the smaller Faunus turned and practically ran off, back to Blake's room to hide.

She turned to look for Ruby at Ilia's departure, eyes roving over the veritable horde of Minions - the technical term, apparently, according to Gnarl himself - in a brief search for the girl. It didn't take long to find her, of course, being one of the few Human women for probably hundreds of miles around and wearing a Beacon school uniform. Instead of anything even remotely designed for the cold Atlesian weather. The younger member of her team was sitting simply at the base of the stairs, her arms hugging her sides for warmth while she watched Jaune with worried eyes and Neo, the multi-colored murderess, stood beside her in a creme-colored, fur-lined coat that made her look like a pint sized version of the kind of woman a mob member would have on his arm in a movie.

Getting to her past the excited throngs of Minions, though, proved a bit of a challenge.

"Who is that woman, Ruby?" She finally asked when she reached the young, silver-haired woman and took a seat beside her, hands on her knees while she watched Jaune shove the woman back and laugh. The young leader gave her a glance and a grimace, and Blake asked, "Is she the one who… Caused all this?"

"Mhm. Cinder Fall, I-I think that's what… What they called her." Ruby nodded, watching her for a moment for something Blake couldn't guess at. Finally, the young woman sighed and turned back to watching Jaune heckle and mock the woman, forcing her to kneel, bare kneed, in the snow in spite of the cold. "We met some people, some… Some bad people, I think, and some not people too, maybe, b-but… I don't know."

"Don't know… What?"

"If they were all people, if I should go stop Jaune… If I should tell you about the meeting." Ruby paused then and gave the Faunus a look before grimacing and turning her eyes again onto her so-titled 'him', while Blake herself tried to adopt as neutral a face as she could manage given the situation. Better to try, at least, rather than put Ruby out. After a moment, the girl sighed and explained, "I just… We met the people in charge of her, and they gave her to us. A-And I don't want him to find out I went behind his back and talked about stuff and feel like he can't trust me."

"Ah, well… I understand that, I guess." She'd had a run of that, back with Adam, and felt a pang of concern over it. Enough that she made a note to keep an eye on Jaune and Ruby, make sure they didn't slide into the same toxic dynamic she and Adam had, once upon a tragic time. "I won't pry, Ruby. But… If you're worried, or upset about this-"

"That's the thing, though. I'm not bothered by how he's treating her, I actually… I get it." Ruby grimaced and gave a tiny shake of her head, leaning back when Neo sat down behind her and let the younger - maybe, it was impossible to guess with the mute murderess - woman lean back against her legs. "Is that… Am I a bad person?"

"Cinder got people you cared about hurt and killed, and it's not like he's… Torturing her, or anything like that." He was mocking her and humiliating her, yes, and the cold was no doubt agonizing at this stage, but her Aura would keep her alive. "So I don't think you're a bad person for not caring if she pays for what she did, if you know what I mean."

"Revenge is a dish best served cold, and like ice cream, every single person likes it when they taste ir. It feels good." Neo offered helpfully, sticking her Scroll between the two other women's heads so they could hear the automated voice past he wind and Minions and see the words, if the former aim failed. A moment passed and the Scroll withdrew before it returned inside the same gesture, impossibly fast but a fact of life regardless. "Just a human thing to do. You're not bad for it, and neither is he. Just the difference between liking vanilla or not in how you like your revenge flavored, and he is NOT a vanilla person."

"You would make an ice cream comparison over something like this…" The young brunette grumbled but, from the way her shoulders relaxed and sloped, the Faunus knew the words had been some comfort at least. "You're right, though, he's… He's not vanilla, to say the least."

"And you love it."

"Shuddup…" Ruby whined weakly, burying her face in the back of her knees and groaning loudly in embarrassment. Behind her, Neo pressed a few buttons to get her automated voice to go 'hahaha' and Ruby whined even louder, "You're so mean!"

"I'm a sadist, yeah."

"Like, you had to type all that out and hit a setting thing. I know how they work, you… Rude… Rude stabby person, you!" Ruby grumbled, turning a pout on the assassin that had her blinking owlishly. Then snickering mutely, hands on her sides and eyes flickering between colors at seeming random. Which only made Ruby flush more and pout harder, glaring in the way only Ruby could at the young former-killer-for-hire, grumbling faster than words could almost be discerned, "Justcusyoukissedmedoesn'tmeanyoucanpickonmenow."

"W-Wait, you two kissed?" Even Blake couldn't contain herself at that news, and then Ruby rapidly waving her hands and shaking her head in the negative, silver eyes wide and pleading while Neo nodded, shot the Faunus a grin and a thumbs up and winked. Wide eyed, Blake grinned in spite of herself, crossing her arms and pointing with the hand holding her elbow between them, "You two? Really?"

"Yep, full force make out in the woods." Neo winked, "She was even about to touch me, if I didn't break it up."

"I-I was not!" Ruby defended in a squeal, standing sharply enough Blake had to step back or else her face would meet Faunus breasts, and Blake was not dealing with that on top of this confusing, Neo fed madness. Petals flowing off her shoulders and hips, she stepped away so she could see them both, rambling as she backed out and into the clearing, "I-I have my Jaune, I don't need a Neo. And besides, I'm a girl, and girls can't be into, you know, girls,except when they're- I'm not though, and Neo was just trying to trick that guy, that's why she kissed me, so it doesn't matter! R-Right, Neo?"

"You two really did kiss, didn't you?" Ruby turned, looking up at Jaune standing in the snow, the woman from before behind him glaring dabbers with her hair matted to the sides of her head from sweat and snowmelt both. Head tilted to the side, he added in a cheery, bright voice that seemed at odds with what he'd been doing ten minutes prior, "I mean, I didn't think you had, but… Interesting, I guess. Heh, d-did you kiss a girl and like it?"

Ruby made a sound more akin to a tea kettle boiling than coherent, human thought and vanished up the stairs in a trail of rose petals and an echo of shrieking, embarrassed Ruby while her friends laughed in her wake.

Growing more serious, Jaune grunted and sighed, stepping between the remaining two women and heading up the stairs with Cinder behind him, calling back, "Dinner is going to have some work with it. Come along when you're ready, I have questions for my guest we all need to hear answered."

Curious, Blake exchanged glances with Neo and then followed behind him.

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They reached the main, grand hall of the Overlord - as Gnarl and Ruby had dubbed it, overruling his complaints - in relatively short order, the armored man making a wake in his Minions as he made his way through the hall. A hall now decorated for a moderately large dinner, with the same old stone table set with eight rough hewn chairs, layered in furs for comfort. Minions scurried around it placing iron plates, utensils and large trays along the center of the table to, later, be heaped in venison and forage from the forest.

While the food wasn't exactly royal, the setting at least was. New silk banners in black with red centers and his Gauntlet emblazoned in the middle hung between every door, and the Guard-Minions had been re-armed and re-armored in smoother, finer looking plate and chain, each one topped off in a newly made and thus clean red and black tabbard of their own. Their long halberds draped long, red furls of silk, lined in white and black fur, to add to the effect dramatically.

And, well, Jaune had very quickly become someone with a flair for the dramatic. Which was why he ignored his guest's eyes as he dragged Cinder along behind him, calling back to her, ignoring the lot of his surprised friend's looks as he called back, "So, about Salem…"

"If you think I will betray my mistress by telling you her every dirty secret, then you are-"

"Basing my assertions entirely on the fact that it or she already betrayed you, now sit, girl." He interrupted, turning and grabbing the woman by the throat, hurling her bodily at he stairs leading up to his throne hard enough that if she hadn't caught herself on them, he was sure bruises would have been left behind.

Striding up towards his throne, he finally pulled his helmet away, letting it clang onto its side beside the carved stone as he fell onto the monarchal resting place, running fingers through damp hair and continuing, "Sold you to the highest bidder for not even a promise of alliance. Merely the possibility of one and under the bus you went."

"That… Is kind of what happened." Ruby offered weakly, stepping round the woman, who grit her teeth and glared balefully at the implication, to give Jaune a hug. Pulling away Ruby gave the woman sitting on the throne-stairs a look, lips pursed and eyes narrowed, before she crossed her arms and asked, "Are you super seriously going to be loyal to her when she as good as traded you in for a newer model?"

"She'll kill me." The woman argued simply.

"I will kill you, Cinder." He grunted simply, adding for everyone watching's benefit, gesturing imperiously with his armored hand, gem gleaming as firelight caught it, "You led the 'Fang into doing what they did to my people, and Salem more than willingly handed you over when I put you as a demand for us to speak. Salem can't kill you if you're already dead. Because… Because I will kill you."

"Quite." The woman blinked, a single brow raising curiously, and judgingly, curling her legs under her and folding her bound hands in her lap. "If I'm dead either way, doesn't being spiteful seem an appealing idea?"

"I…"

"Didn't think of that? Yes, thinking of things doesn't seem your forte." The woman drawled, jerking her head to the side to indicate the students, his friends, and even Gnarl, who were all watching with a mix of confusion and aggravation. "Or did you arrange a dinner for our conversation?"

"The, uh, the dinner was already planned?" Ruby tried, smiling and, desperately, looking over at her partner and whispering rapidly, "Weiss, help me!"

"I don't even know what is going on!" You Schnee countered, Blake and Neo coming to her side as the woman rounded on them, a finger pointed at them flicking to and fro between them quickly and questioningly, icy blue eyes narrowed. "Do either of you know who the woman Jaune has kidnapped is? And what in the Grimm is going on?"

"Ironic turn of phrase." Neo's auto-voice rattled off, the girl grinning at having clearly predicted the Schnee's response, fingers of one hand flicking along its surface at her side with practiced ease.

"Salem at least claims to be the Queen of the Grimm, and spoke to me through several." Jaune took the moment he saw to explain. Before anyone could do more than gape and flounder, the lot of them looking like an eclectic bunch of particularly colorful fish, he continued, sighing, "Sit down, all of you. I'll explain while the Minions set the table so our guests can actually eat, for fuck sake."

The first statement had his friends moving to take their seats, most sitting opposite him. Not out of fear, he knew, but rather because they wanted to see him while he talked and the Minions scurried around desperately to do what he demanded. Something about disappearing and being presumed dead for weeks upon weeks had done that to his friends, he supposed with a small, almost invisible smile. And the Minions were always eager to see to his demands as well, to boot.

It didn't take long, either for the food to arrive and be soundly ignored - minus Nora, who of course nibbled at the strips of dried and seasoned venison that had been set out - or for him to explain what little he knew. And he did know very little, judging from Cinder's amused half-smirk and general cocksure easiness, though whether that was feigned or not he couldn't be really, truly sure. But really, if she was composed enough from his lack of information to even pretend to be cocky and comfortable, with her Aura and powers blocked by the prison-dampener and surrounded by his Minions, that spoke volumes to her discipline or how screwed he was.

And while he couldn't be sure which it was, with his luck… Well, he knew where to put his money, frankly.

"So the Grimm, what, have a monarch?" Weiss asked, clarifying to clear her disbelief judging from her wide eyes, raised brows and mildly gaping mouth at his nod. Taking a breath to steady herself, Schnee discipline showing, she quirked her head to the side in a resigned gesture and sighed, "Well, that's… A thing we shall have to deal with. Somehow."

"I have an army."

"She has dragons." Cinder countered, managing to smile cockily when he shot her a glare. A smile that only slightly faltered when he snapped his fingers and a Minion tugged her chain to the side, pulling her sprawling across the steps and cackling as she straightened, bound hands reaching up to flick hair from her face. "My, what a powerful counter to my logic… Truly, a paragon of intellectualism, you are, Jaune."

"I have magic, and Hunters on my side." He argued simply, gesturting first at his friends and then, before she could state the obvious, adding, "And if I go to blows with Salem, Ozpin will be on my side. With him come dozens, if not hundreds, of veteran Hunters. Heroes."

"She has an inexhaustible army. And it is one that your oh so heroic Hunters have, by and large, failed in every way that matters to curtail." Cinder countered, smiling victoriously as he leaned back and wondered at how this woman, betrayed, bruised, bound and bleeding, could still exude such confidence and self-surety.

It was impressive.

Absolutely infuriating, but impressive nonetheless.

"I- We wouldn't need to worry about killing her entire army, though. Only her." Jaune pointed out, smiling confidently at what he was sure was a point she couldn't counter.

"She can't be killed, weapons and the like have zero effect on her. She's shown me and the others under her command as much, to engender the kind of… Devotion she likes in her followers. She'll show you too, I wager, if you ask to take a quite literal whack at her." Cinder countered, grinning thinly and watching him. Watching his reaction, rather, more likely.

A reaction that must have been evident, shown before he could mask it and mirrored by many of his guests, earning a long chuckle. "Oh, you didn't know that? Did you think she wants you on her side out of some manner of fear? Oh, well, let me reassure you that your joining her side is entirely a matter of convenience."

"You say that like a foregone conclusion, when it very clearly is not one." Pyrrha remarked, voice low and dissatisfied at the implication. The woman hummed in curiosity and Pyrrha seemed to take some kind of enjoyment in taking a bite of the venison on her plate and chewing, forcing the woman to sit quietly until she was done. Such pettiness from Pyrrha was as surprising as it was amusing, but Cinder didn't seem to care, content where she was to wait for the Mistralian to finally speak, "You say these things like Jaune will experience them for fact. What if he refuses her?"

"He won't, he wouldn't be so stupid as to consider doing a thing like that." She answered as easily as could possibly have been expected, smiling pleasantly all the while. "Doing so makes her your enemy, and he doesn't want every Grimm on Mantle to come down on this place, I'm sure."

"We can defend ourselves." Defend, but not win, as things were, Jaune didn't add for obvious reasons. Raising a clawed finger, he glanced to Gnarl and snapped out before she could respond, "Gnarl, I want Miss Fall taken to a room and put under guard. She's spoiling the dinner, which isn't something I want to allow with my friends all together."

"The Minions are rather busy…" The Head Minion nodded, grinning ferally as Jaune's brow rose and the old creature turned to look at the woman. "I feel the spiders could be trusted with the task instead. Hm, Master?"

"Ah." Jaune smiled, watching Cinder stiffen, back going straight and rigid at the implication. But, a testament to pride or discipline, she neither spoke nor turned to look at him. Instead, she simply at there, staring at the Head Minion until, with a wave of his hands, Jaune smiled, "Let them know not to do anything permanently harmful to her, and take her away, Gnarl. I'll leave her to you."

"As you wish, my Lord~!" The creature practically cheered, snapping his fingers and ordering, "Minions, take her away! His High Evilness wishes to have his supper now! And bring in more cookies, lest Mistress Rose become… Agitated."

The last bit had the Minions moving faster, guards dragging Cinder away in a hurry and serving-Minions rushing to gather more sweet edibles for the red-clothed woman. Before she could unleash her wood-based fury, he was sure their little minds were pressing them to rush. They all seemed so much more scared of her…

The woman gone, Jaune drummed his fleshy fingers on his leg and blew some air out of his lips, asking after a moment, "So, how's things, guys?"

"I don't think hanging out is going to work out after that bomb…" Ren pointed out with a gentle smile, letting Nora snatch the cookies he'd been given and that she'd been eyeing ever since.

"Yeah, it's… Kind of a downer, Spike. Grimm queen and all that?" Yang offered from further down the table, a foot resting on it and edging her chair back and off the ground slightly. Picking at a long strip of what was essentially deer jerky and picking off tiny pieces of it, she added in a tired tone, "Plus, homework has been hell lately."

"You're… All taking this pretty well, you know." Jaune noted simply, waving a hand at Ruby, happily gnawing at a cookie, and added, "Ruby fainted."

"Jaune!" The girl pouted, hiding her flush in chewing on the cookie in her hand.

"After Neo kissed her, too."

"Jaaaaaaune!" This time, the girl flushed brightly and hurled the cookie at him, the pastry shattering on his armored chest while he laughed and the girl rambled. Eventually, she settled on a simple, "It was just to trick the guy that caught us looking for you…"

"Did she like it?" Yang asked, grinning a cheshire grin until Blake swatted her with a hand, earning a disgruntled, faux-offended shout. Pouting playfully, the blonde crossed her arms and grumbled loudly, "Hey, I'm her sister. I need to know if I have to deal with two sexes trying to get in bed with my baby sister."

"Yang!" Another cookie turned projectile shot through the air, the blonde deftly plucking it from the air and taking a hunk out of it. She smirked at her sister, and the younger girl sent another cookie her way, adding, "Tease me, and I start throwing plates, Yang!"

"She super liked it." Neo added as soon as Yang seemed to have surrendered, jumping away when Ruby leapt for the Scroll, one hand slapping weakly to ward the Rose off but not hurt her. With her other hand, she rattled off another hand, as easily as she'd done with two, "It's true, and now she's trying to silence me. And that's mean."

"So is teasing meeee!" Ruby whined, the girl rolling heterochromatic eyes and then, with a sound of shattering glass, breaking under the girl. Ruby flailed and hit the ground in a roll, Huntress training holding true even now, and then came back to her feet in a whine. "Neo! That was even meaner!"

Tomorrow morning, Jaune decided, he'd head to Ansel to collect his Minions. He'd wanted to plan it out, see who wanted to come along and talk it out with Tai and Qrow whenever they showed up, but… It was just a quick milk run, at the end of the day.

What could possibly go wrong on a milk run?

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"We have to get her back!" Mercury sighed, watching Emerald pace for the fifth hour straight in their dorm room at Beacon, glaring daggers into the floor as she did. Occasionally, too, she'd look to him and he'd just shrug and feign apathy, laid on his bed and flicking through pictures in his Tweeter feed without actually looking at any of them. Not for the first time, she rounded on him, hands curled into fists at her side, and demanded, "Why would you just let them hand her over?!"

"Because I do not get paid enough to fight the queen of the Grimm damned Grimm?" He snarked, raising an eyebrow and giving her a look.

"She took you in when you had no one, and you just… Abandoned her!"

"Wasn't my call, and fighting there would have just gotten you killed." He remarked quietly, shrugging when she grimaced and returning to his long since less than enthralling Scroll. Better the random titties of some woman he'd followed a year back than the face Emerald was giving him, frankly, as boring as those were at this point. "Also, I didn't sign up for any of this noise. Grimm queens and evil Overlords? Magic? Nah, man, nah."

"Where's your sense of loyalty?"

"Oh I dunno Em, maybe I buried it when I killed my father." He drawled, sitting up and crossing his legs in one smooth motion, rapping a knuckle on the knee-plate. "My loyalty to people I can't help kind of died with my dad and my legs. If I'd been dumb enough to step in and try to save Cinder, Salem would have wanted to kill me too."

"My Semblance-"

"Works on one, two, maybe three people at a time." Mercury interrupted, sliding the leg he'd propped up down against the ground hard enough it clanged for her attention. She flinched at the noise and narrowed a glare at him, but he ignored it and went on, "Your Semblance can maybe reach three people, if I carry your scrawny ass out afterwards. There were what, four Grimm there and another four people? Too many for you."

"We could have fought, Mercury. Could have tried to fight..." She still argued weakly, walking to the side to sit on her bed, pulling her feet up onto it and hugging her knees to her chest.

"Em…" He watched and frowned as her fire finally went out, red eyes staring at the floor weakly, and something tugged in his gut. Sighing, he flopped back onto his bed and stared at the ceiling, if only to not look at that face, and thought. Finally, he sighed louder, "I wasn't about to let you throw your life away, Em. Not wasted on something stupid like this."

"Cinder gave me my life." Emerald countered, a spark where there was once a fire crackling at him. "She took me in off the streets, where dying was a matter of time not a question. Or something worse than dying. It wouldn't be wasted, if I died trying to help her."

A long silence stretched between them, then. Minutes of awkward, tense quiet, while more genuine students walked by their door, laughing and cheering or complaining about their assignments. A bell chimed and an announcement echoed through the halls, calling higher class teams out to begin missions or attend special training sessions.

"Fucking damn it…" Mercury snapped finally, standing and moving towards the door out into the hall.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to the god damn blonde idiot's dad, try and… I dunno, the bimbo always talks about how nice he is, so maybe I can make a friend." He snapped back, shaking his head and looking at the green-haired woman. After a moment of hesitation, he sighed and added, "Em, if I don't message you or come back tonight… Hide somewhere in Vale."

"You… You're serious?" She asked, standing and looking at him with a face practically carved from solid confusion. Shaking her head gently she asked in a quiet voice, "Why? We… We hate each other. If there's a chance this could get you killed- Why do something like this?"

"Call it a sense of loyalty, Em." He shrugged, pushing the door open and stepping into the hall before she could respond.

He took a moment to lean against the wall by the door, to make sure he wanted to do what he was doing before he did it as much as to make sure Emerald didn't try and follow him. Sure of both, he pushed off the wall and flicked his Scroll out, using the virus one of Cinder's cohorts to access the Scroll-tracking in the Academy's systems.

Hunters on-campus were not tracked with names like the student-issued ones. There were simply too many, coming in for short stays for lessons or to meet for missions with other Hunters, as well as to sometimes pick up teams to lead, so even trying would add an entire layer of bureaucracy. What they did do, though, was track time stayed. And on that tracking, he only saw two unnamed Scrolls that had been here for long enough to have been dealing with the Overlord as they knew now the blonde's dad had been. And both of them were roomed near each other, and both of them were still in those rooms. Which was very convenient for him, assuming of course he didn't wind up dead on arrival when they found out who he worked for.

In for a penny, in for a pounding when he got found out, he supposed… "Fuck me, what am I even doing?"

He wasn't sure, but he shoved his hands in his pockets and began to make his way to meet them regardless.

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	35. Chapter 35

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"You know, kid, I… Really probably shouldn't be surprised to find another underage squatter in my room when I get back from a trip." Qrow sighed that night when he came back, a fresh pack of nice bourbon bottles, straight out of Mistral and into his hands, clutched under one arm. "Sometimes, though, I would like to come to my room and not find some brat squatting in it."

"I don't understand…" The silver-haired young man murmured confusedly, brows furrowed as he stood up from the windowsill he'd been sitting on. And that, judging from it being open, he'd used to break into his room. Seeing where his older eyes went, the young man shrugged, "It, uh, it was unlocked. Or, well, the lock wasn't latched right, so… I didn't technically break in?"

"What? Again? But I just got it fixed the other day…" His fucking Semblance… Even the statistically impossible could very well happen, as long as it ruined someone's day in the process.

"I mean…" The silver-haired kid shrugged again, the night lights from outside bouncing off his pale hair, and he waved his hand at the window dismissively. "It was busted, so I guess it didn't get put in right or… Or something."

"Or something is right, yeah…" Sighing, the man walked across the room and knelt, slowly setting the fresh bottles of brown heaven inside and grunting, "What do you want, and who are you?"

"I, uh… I'm Mercury. Mercury Black, and…" The young man grimaced, turned a bit as though he was readying himself to leap out of the window and escape. Where to, he had no idea, given the Grimm filled woods separating Beacon from the rest of Vale. "I work for a woman named Cinder… Who works for one named Salem."

"Salem… What?" The man grimaced, and his head shrunk into his shoulders like some anxious pantomime of a turtle, and Qrow's eyes widened as he slowly rose, one hand on the handle of his scythe. "You had best tell me your Salem has a last name real fuckin' quick, Black, or we're going to have some problems."

"She doesn't- Wait two minutes!" Qrow's sword paused at the man's raised hands with his sword between them like a barrier, looking at the limbs that stood bare of any weapons he could see. A pause of wariness - an open hand could, for instance, be for a Semblance's use - but the younger man took it for a chance and spoke as fast as he could. "I-I'm not here for her. She doesn't even know I exist, I don't think, and definitely doesn't know I'm here. I'm not here to start anything. I swear."

"You work for the Grimm witch!" He accused, leveling the sword out at his opposite's chest, forcing him away from the window with the edge and stepping around towards it so that he stood in the closest middle between the door and the window, and thus best able to stop any attempt to run. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I just want to help my partner!" Mercury snapped, voice hard but low, wary of drawing attention from the people sleeping around them. Voice pleading, he went on, "My partner, Emerald… She's only eighteen. Cinder saved her barely two years ago, took her right off Mistra's slum's streets. You've seen her, right?"

"Name?"

"Emerald Sustrai." Qrow gave a gentle shake of his head and the man grimaced, reaching slowly into his pocket. Painfully slowly, in fact, so as not to frighten Qrow and start an attack. More evidence, to the aged man's eyes, that the kid really wasn't here to fight, as now would be the time. Still nervous, the boy grunted a short, "Just a Scroll. Gotta… Put my code in and find the picture, I'm not trying anything. Okay?"

"Yeah." Qrow answered. Just as slowly, the young man flicked open the Scroll and did as he said, putting in his code and flitting through menus through menus before, finally, he reached out with the little device to give it to him.

"Just a picture of her, to… To make my point." Qrow hesitated and, anxious, the boy reassured him, "If I was planning to blow a bomb with it, I would have. A Scroll explosive wouldn't work on a Huntsman, and you have me under your guard, and about two decades of experience on me. My dad was an assassin, if I wanted to try something, this wouldn't be how I did it."

"...Fine."

Lowering the weapon enough to step towards him, but keeping the edge curved in to bat him back if he tried anything, Qrow stepped in and took the device. Mercury let him, releasing the silver little electronic and backing against the wall to let Qrow bring his guard back up, and the aged Huntsman looked at the screen. A vibrant green-haired, red eyed girl looked back at him, with a lithe figure that had the womanly curves needed to charm, and bright, popping eyes and hair, he knew what Cinder had saved her from.

An exotic beauty like that, in Mistral's undercity, had one end point.

"Fucking hell…" Damn his Semblance, and damn his kind nature, under the surly, bandit drunkenness he put forward… He blamed Summer, Brothers take her soul, for it. "And this is the girl your 'Cinder' saved, hm? I recognize her. You three attacked Amber."

"Who?"

"The Fall Maiden."

"Ah, uh… Yeah." The man grimaced and bobbed his head and shrugged his shoulders unsurely. "Sorry? I was just… Following orders, you know. Nothing personal, just wanted to eat and keep my legs."

"Your legs?"

"Uh…" Raising one, he kicked his own shin, a hollow and recognizable ding echoing across the room. Qrow's brows rose regardless and, using his foot like a man trained to, Mercury kicked his boot off and raised his clearly metal foot. "Prosthetics. My old man was a bastard, and tried to kill me for not livin' up to what he wanted. My knees were ruined in the fight, and Cinder bought me a new pair."

"Real saintly, ain't she?"

"No way, she's a total bitch, and I won't even try and argue that. Better luck hosting a Beowolf to run for Council." Qrow snorted at the image of a suited Beowolf, hunched over a microphone huffing and chuffing about foreign policy. In a more serious voice, Mercury went on, "But she's done right by us, I owe her. And besides that, Emerald is crazy about her, and Salem just… Handed her off like-like I dunno, a sack of flour, to that Overlord guy. And Em's worried."

"Shit, kid..." Jaune, the Overlord, was a decent person deep down. But he had a vicious streak a mile wide, and the power to back it up. He'd seen how bloodthirsty he was first hand, and how sadistic too, when they'd gone to get payback for what had happened to Ruby. "So, where does breaking into my room come into this, then? Don't tell me you got the wrong room."

"I… Couldn't find the blonde bim-" Qrow's brows furrowed and he grunted and Mercury rushed to amend, "Y-Yang's dad anywhere. So, uh, next best thing. Figured you could find out if Cinder was okay for us, calm Emerald down, or… Or I don't know."

"Don't know what?"

"What I want you to do, or what you can do, I just…" The young man sighed, grimaced, and grabbed the back of his head, face awash in confusion. Finally his cheeks puffed up and he blew air out of his mouth before, at last, admitting, "I just… I just want Em to not be upset, you know? I dunno why, she's aggravating as hell, but she's so upset and I don't like it. I can't stand it. She doesn't even snark back when I make snide comments!"

The older man stared him down after that before, almost a minute later, he swore and dropped his weapon, letting it collapse and tossing it back onto his waist with a grunt. "Hand me some of my Brothers damn bourbon and tell me every single gods damn thing that happened up 'til now. Everything you know about Emerald Sustrai, Cinder, Salem, Hazel- The whole fuckin' lot of 'em."

"What do you-"

"You want my help, then you work for me, now." Qrow cut in, plopping down on the edge of his bed and meeting the younger man's eyes with his own narrowed ones. Mercury swallowed anxiously but, after a second, nodded and turned to get one of the barely chilled bottles of fine bourbon. Qrow accepted it and, with practised ease, popped the lid free to rake a swig. "You grab one too, and fuck the drinking age crap, shit you've been through… You get some damn bourbon."

"I won't argue with that, uh, sir." Qrow grimaced at the designation but nodded, waiting until Mercury had taken a bottle and slid down to sit against the wall beside his little fridge, sipping at it and grimacing. Hacking gently, he gave the bottle a look through a grimace and complained, "Tastes like shit."

"Means it's the good shit." Qrow nodded, grinning and then grunting shortly, "Now, talk. Start with meeting bitch one and Emerald, then get to big bitch, and then keep going down the line. Front of the story to the back. Got it?"

Qrow settled in for the long story, and the long night, with a sigh as Mercury started to talk. Somehow, though, he had an odd feeling this was some kind of turning point. For what, he had no idea, but for something certainly.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

"So we talked, he gave me barely anything, but…" Qrow sighed when morning came and Jaune found him waiting outside the Tower with a disheveled and annoyed Gnarl, who would only say that Ruby had 'asked nice for him to go get him.

"And you believed him?" He asked, head tilted to the side to show his own disbelief. "He works for Salem, up the chain of command anyway, after all."

"Yeah, but… S'complicated." Jaune snorted and Qrow's arms folded across his chest, the man leaning against the great doors that let out at the base of the tower and into its courtyard. "He was bein' honest, I could tell. He just wants his partner to relax, and feel better about all of this. And the two of 'em woulda died without the red bitch, so he owes her, but cares about the green haired girl."

"It does sound complicated, Master." Gnarl offered, shrugging unflinchingly when his Overlord glared at him. "Fine, fine, your advisor will stop advising now, as you like, your Lordship."

Around him, a dozen Guard-Minions waited, armed and armored for a trip up to the Portal and off to get the next quarter of his evil army. And he stood there in the slowly falling morning snow, all spikes, Overlordy charisma, and still looking the defeated man when he gave Ruby a look. The girl's brows rose and she held her hands up in front of her as though to ask what she should have done.

"It could have waited…"

"Would you have made me wait if I was upset like this?" Ruby asked quietly, giving him that little smile that screamed at him to give her a hug but at the same time aggravated him because of the trust there. She knew he'd want her taken care of, after all, and would do anything up to take a bullet for her.

Well, that wouldn't be new, but the point stood, he told himself.

"I feel for Emerald, I do. But I'm not letting the woman walk, not yet at least." Jaune grunted simply, shifting his weight unsurely and once again looking to Ruby. The girl gave him a thumbs up, smiling unsurely, and Jaune once again turned back to look down on him. "Mercury didn't tell you much, but I can tell you this. I have no intention of killing her, or hurting her all that much even. Not unless I intend on accepting Salem's offer and I haven't-"

"Got any reason to give her what she wants." Ruby cut in, the Minions collectively turning to her and then back to their Overlord quietly, metal sliding and grating gently as they did like something out of a cartoon Jaune could remember watching when he was younger. He turned to Ruby with a grimace she couldn't see and her brows shot up. "What? We don't, right?"

"Ruby…"

"Don't 'Ruby' me, Jaune! We aren't considering siding with the queen of the- of the- I'm sorry Uncle Qrow," the man waved her off with a bemused smile, watching the little tempest round on Jaune again, "We aren't considering joining the side of the queen of the f-f-fucking Grimm! We just aren't!"

"Ruby, I get it, okay?" Boy did he… He'd been killed by one, and been pushed to bleeding and screaming by them a hundred times since. Shaking his head, he sighed gently and added, "I don't intend to kneel for her, or anyone else for that matter."

"Okay… I trust you, Jaune." Ruby nodded, seeming relaxed by his words. Part of him felt like she should have just trusted him, but at the same time, he had… Slipped, from time to time, and not lived up to what she probably wanted him to be. "So," she started, cutting off his musings, "what do we do about Mercury and Emerald, then?"

"Good question…" What to do indeed…

He couldn't just let Cinder go after everything, he had no idea what that would do or cause so it was off the table.

But on the same cuff, he couldn't just ignore Emerald and Mercury now that Qrow was involved, because if Qrow gave a damn then Ruby would soon too. On the topic of Qrow, though…

"Did you take me talking to Salem to Ozpin?" He asked quietly, leaning on his axe and reaching up with his other hand to grip it and let it hang comfortably. Qrow shook his head and, hidden behind his mask, Jaune smiled. "Qrow, go back to Beacon and have those two brought here. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure, I guess." The man shrugged, raising an eyebrow and asking, "Gonna toss 'em in a cell too?"

"Funny, Qrow, but no. That won't work as a favor to a friend like you, now will it?" The man shrugged but didn't argue and Jaune turned to Ruby and grimaced. "Ruby, I know I promised you could come with…"

"Jaune…" She sighed, giving him a deadpan look with her brows raised. "What do you want?"

"I need you to watch Gnarl-"

"Oi, Master!" The creature squawked indignantly, Ruby chuckling at the reaction but otherwise ignoring the grumbling creature like Jaune did.

"-and make sure that Blake's… Person, I guess, doesn't cause any problems while those two are here." She was skittish, which was a different thing to being afraid. Skittish meant she might do something stupid, jump to conclusions and cause him problems, or try and protect herself from him for something she perceived. Ruby pouted at the request, though, and he sighed, shoulders boughed under the weight of her displeasure more than a pine's under a blizzard. "I know you wanted to see Ansel, Ruby, and I promised, but… I need your help to help them."

"I dunno…" She pouted, turning at the hip slowly in a show of her unsurety. "I really wanted to go and see Ansel…"

"You can use the Forge to bake cookies, and make Gnarl help you, too." He offered, the young woman instantly brightening and bouncing on her heels excitedly. She was a good girl, better than he deserved really, and he knew that. But sometimes, she could be the most manipulative person in his life… And he knew Gnarl and Ozpin!

"You got a deal, mister." She nodded, giving Gnarl an excited, beaming smile, "Cookies, Gnarl!"

"I hate my existence with a passion that could only be matched by the insufferable sweetness of chocolate chip cookie dough!" The creature whined, sinking to its knees dramatically, clawing at its hair and punching the ground as it grieved. "Why, Master?! Why must you betray me so greatly!"

"I like Ruby better." The girl snorted and Jaune shrugged, "She's cuter than you."

"Et tu, Lordship!" Gnarl cried, scrabbling towards him and clawing at the air like an overdramatic actor. "Et tuuuu, master!"

With a roll of his eyes, the dark Overlord of the Tower of Evil… Turned and ran up the stairs into the Tower, before the dramatically sobbing creature could snag his boots. Echoing behind him, he heard the creature's pained cry and Ruby's echoing, malevolent laughter followed by a single whispered word.

"Cookies!"

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Salem sighed, sitting in a chair made of carved wood custom fit to her shape and backed in fine padding and Atlesian clothwork. Beside her sat an equally fine table made of the same wood and topped by a thick Vacuoan tapestry colored in bright reds bordered by dark blacks to match the rest of her admittedly small lounge.

Behind her, a Seer floated idly, ready to turn and retrieve a drink or food as she needed from the little refrigerator across the carpeted, stone brickwork room. All of which was, of course, of only the finest and best quality to be found on Remnant, courtesy of her most money savvy servant.

Not for the first time she was grateful for having spared Watts when he was brought to her, watching the Nevermore flock fly from one side to the other in shapes as she ordered them. She used to sit and do this exact thing, a thousand lifetimes ago, with Osma beside her calling out shapes in an ever continuing game for her to try and match.

A better time, she though for also not the first time. One where her children could be heard laughing, Osma's hand often filled hers, and they ruled as gods over the lesser people of the shattered, quite literally gods forsaken world that knelt before them.

Now, she was barely a myth to most people… An old tale passed around fireplaces, and always with inaccuracies that offended even her ageless self.

An ancient, lonely myth.

"My queen." Ah, but she wasn't so lonely, at least in one sense. Turning, she looked at the massive form of Hazel standing behind her, having returned to her now to await new orders. She hummed a question and he grimaced, picking his words carefully as ever to avoid upsetting her like the good, fearful servant he was. "You… Summoned me, Ma'am."

"I wanted to ask how you felt about the Overlord, and the odds of him joining his cause to ours with the offer of young Cinder to do with as he wishes." The man's grimace told her one thing she already knew.

He detested her decision to hand off Cinder and, seeing it, she finally deigned to address it. "I don't aim to leave her with him, you understand, unless he agrees to kneel to me. Something that I know will never happen, most likely, but my little tactic has bought us either time to learn more or an ally more powerful than you could know."

"Ma'am, I would never question your decisions." He was on the defensive, now. Knowing she'd read him and had responded to it.

"Oh Hazel, I know you would not. You're no fool." His face paled and he braced himself for whatever would come, barely more than the tensing of his shoulders, but she waved him off. "I wouldn't ask your opinions and then punish them. You're an honorable man, however, and I would not estrange you over a misunderstanding."

There was only waste in throwing aside a useful pawn over the pawn misunderstanding orders and plans, after all.

"I understand, Ma'am." He nodded, and relaxed as well. She nodded and, after only a second, he asked, "Will that be all, Ma'am?"

"No, no it will not." She rose from her chair, feet swamped in thick, soft carpet, and turned to look at the man. "Jaune Arc is the Overlord, and he is a man with two desires, so far as Watts' checks have shown. He wants his Minion hives, and he wants his family and loved ones safe and sound."

"Understandable…"

"Watts is being saddled with tracking down every single Arc and selecting which one will do to send our message." A message stuck to the corpse of a sister would do, perhaps, if one was available. Or his father, perhaps, given his profession and its inherent risks to life and limb. Smiling, she gave the man a simple order, "The red Hive is somewhere on this continent, I know that much for a fact. I've seen the little cretins along the western coastline a few times, with my Grimm."

"I will find it, Ma'am." Hazel nodded, understanding the order she was giving him. Bowing his head politely, he rumbled, "I will leave right away, Ma'am, if you will allow it."

"Yes. Go, Hazel, and find the little monsters for me." She nodded and the man turned, striding to the door in several long steps and leaving her behind. Smiling, she turned to the flocking Nevermore outside and held up a hand. The birds took the form of it, but left a hole for the sun to peek through.

Like the glowing gem of the Gauntlet that she would soon have, one way or another.

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"The Portal-Shrine is in ruins, and I want it fixed enough to use when we return with the Hive." He ordered, standing at the highest peak that surrounded Ansel, overlooking Arc Manor far below. Behind him, several Guard-Minions squabbled, gripping the large sections of ancient, ruined stone and hauling it to the edge of the enchanted stone. Watching them over his shoulder for a moment, he made a mental count and snapped, "Wretch, Snatch, Scratch, Thatch, I want you all to stay here. Get this mess cleaned up and guard the site."

"For the Overlord!" The four crowed, continuing their work on moving the stones.

He sighed and left them to work while he walked to the edge of the cliff and knelt, looking down on Ansel while his long cloak snapped in the wind beside him, like a flag emblazoned with his symbol. A symbol not of his choosing, that represented everything the Jaune from Ansel would have despised, but that the Jaune from the Dark Tower stood proudly for.

A dissonance he... Wasn't sure what to do with.

Ignore it, he guessed.

The gem in his hand thrummed at the thought. Or more likely, at his emotions and proximity to the Shrine, but he took it for an answer regardless and set the thoughts aside.

"Ansel…" He'd never seen it from this angle, high above and behind Arc Manor itself, but he didn't think it would matter what angle he saw it in after so long. After so much, really. He stared down at the manor and frowned, Gauntlet tapping out a staccato on the bare rock that made up the barren peak of the frigid mountaintop. "I never returned Crocea Mors, I don't think… I don't think father even knows where it is."

At the bottom of the chasm at the far edge of the forest, most likely. At least as far as his dad would assume, and while Jaune was sure his dad had climbed all through that chasm, he was equally sure he'd found nothing at all. Crocea Mors, broken and ruined as it was, was at the Tower after all.

But there was still the temptation to go down and see the town. Ruby would say he should, if she were here…

"A matter for another time perhaps, Master." Gnarl prodded gently, soft spoken either for hiding from Ruby or for actually being sympathetic for once. Probably the former, but with the way his chest was aching, he decided to bank on the latter. "Being the Hero is your dream and wish, Master. There's a young woman that needs your Minion's tending, is there not?"

"Amber, yeah…"

"And would a Hero favor seeing his family over saving an innocent young woman's life?" He didn't answer, but gnarl knew the answer regardless. After a moment, the creature spoke again, "The cave system is only a half hour's climbing and walking away, my Lord. See it done, and play the hero."

"I'll save Amber, if I can." Jaune nodded, rising and stepping back from the cliff in one smooth motion, sighing and enjoying the chill air for once. If only because it soothed somewhat the burning in his chest.

"Yes, well… I was referring to you saving me, actually." The Head Minion snarked good naturedly, shrieking in abject terror a moment later. "Master! Master, Mistress Rose found me! Master, please, hurry and- Ack, the spoon of doom!"

Chuckling dryly, and putting aside the less fun thoughts he had whirling around his head, he turned to his Minions and ordered them to follow. With his personal guard in place, he began the peaceful walk to collect the next batch of his growing army.

(~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~)

Originally, I intended there to be a cool mountaineering scene and a skirmish with the Grimm preceding the recovery of the Blues. As of this morning, though, I found out that my grandmother passed away and… I just am not in the state for it, but didn't want to sit staring at a screen and not letting any of you know what is going on.

So instead, it's just a milk run in every sense of the word. Go, get the Blues, come home. Instead of a fight, I added in the character drama and conflict I was already intending to with jaune, and you got the main part of this cake with Mercury, Qrow, Emerald and company.

I apologize to anyone disappointed by the length, but I'm just… Not in a state.

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	36. Chapter 36

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"It's down there, Gnarl?" Jaune asked, standing at the top of a high cliff on the other side of the mountain from the ruined Portal-Shrine, kneeling at the cliff edge and looking down at the ledge below. "It's the only thing I can see for, like, miles around that isn't just the cliff for a thousand feet or more. Little ledge, with a tree beside it, albeit a hell of a lot bigger of one than your scroll said. And the only cave entrance looking thing for miles."

"Are you certain, my Master?" The Head Minion asked gently, sounding unsure himself after the description Jaune gave him. "It sounds like the location, as my notes here describe it, but… It's so much further down now. I'm unsure, truly, my most darkest Lord."

"I think that was wrong grammar…"

"Master, that would be improper grammar. If you're going to pedant, at least pedant properly, instead of like an uneducated peon." The Head Minion snarked idly, enough so that Jaune growled in agitation. "Fine, fine… Just trying to lighten the moment."

"Don't." He snapped, "Just read back the directions again, and be specific. Make sure I'm in the right place before I try and find a way down there."

"The Shrine faces the opposite direction, overlooking the valley below, where the Overlord's settlement plans were to be put into place." They never had been, though, Gnarl had said when he asked. The Overlord in question had only just found the location when he died, and no one else had taken the mantle until Jaune himself had. So there went any claims of ownership over Ansel, even if he had wanted them, which he really didn't. "Hike around the peak just above it to the cliff edge beyond, directly north of the Shrine, and find the small footpath over the enchanted tree that marks it to get down."

"This is the place then, definitely. There's the tree but the cliff doesn't have a footpath down, Gnarl, and stretches out on either side far enough for this to have to be the place. I would see any other options." 'Far enough' in this instance being about a mile to either side, the top of the cliff rising and dipping with the curve of the mountains. "But all I see is more cliff, and no paths anywhere on it."

"It's possible that it may have weathered away, Master." Gnarl suggested, "I would suggest maybe seeing if you can see anything else?"

"I already-"

"Please just look so I can think…"

"Fine." He sighed, rolling his eyes tiredly, "I'll look around a bit more."

At the base of it, the green forests the region was known for began, stretching on to the distant sea, and atop the cliff were sparse smatterings of the same trees. The cliff face was barren, mostly, all the way down though. Aside from a scant few wiry, spindling trees clinging to small protrusions of rock, their roots spiraling through the stone around and below them for anchorage, with curved trunks that reminded him oddly of snakes. On top of the mountains, though, more 'normal' pines stretched, the spiny trees climbing the steep incline not ten feet behind him towards the peak above, boughs laden with frost and snow as they climbed higher.

It was beautiful, really. The kind of scenic ideal he saw in fables and fairy tales all the time, when he was younger, depicting the arboreal forests fantasy seemed to love.

Unfortunately, he wasn't here for the view right now.

The ledge Gnarl was asking about sat about forty feet below him, barely a foot wide at the widest, ended on one side in a gnarling, twisting tree as large as an oak in direct spite of the difficulty of growing there, the highest boughs reaching up to brush against the cliff only a couple feet below him on that side. This cliff, he knew, stretched mostly naturally around the entire northern section of the mountain range, the reason Grimm didn't hoard over the peaks around Ansel and swamp it. Nature's bounty gave everything, including walls sometimes, if one was willing to look and work to shape it to your needs his father had always said.

Now, he could actually see what he meant, because nothing could ever even dream of scaling these mountains except avian Grimm. And those would be battered and broken by the updraft, a consequence of the wind coming in off the distant ocean he was certain, that intermittently and unpredictably spiked upwards hard enough he'd already lost one Guard-Minion to it, the poor creature screeching as it fell to the woods far below. A shame, really.

Their armor was expensive to make, relatively speaking, and they were even trained somewhat.

"So… This is a bit of a pickle, I guess." He sighed, taking a seat at the edge of the cliff with his axe behind him, unafraid of falling with the knowledge he could just teleport back to the weapon at will. "So falling isn't a problem, but teleporting back up here doesn't accomplish anything at all."

"No, Master, it does not."

"Do you think the Greens could scale this, Gnarl?" They were adept climbers, after all, he'd seen as much. Regularly, he saw them climbing trees around the Tower, either to get something done or just to heckle the Browns who weren't as good at it.

"Not with that wind, no, Master, but…" The Head Minion paused for a long moment. Long enough that Jaune began to grow impatient, flicking stones off the cliff top with his clawed Gauntlet and enjoying the solid 'thunk' the metal made when it hit. "Okay, my most benevolent and tolerant Master, so I might have had an idea…"

"Yeah, and the phrasing of that isn't inspiring a deep seated fear in me or anything." It came out far more barbed than he meant it to, kind of, and was low enough that the creature didn't respond to it. But in all fairness, he'd thought that the damn cave entrance would be as described. A small path leading down a couple feet to it, and a tunnel winding around to the little lagoon the Minions were kept in. "Of course, nothing ever comes as it says on the tin…"

"Pardon, Master?"

"Just give me your idea." He ordered quietly, shaking his head and at least enjoying the view in front of him while the Minion sighed dramatically.

"Well… I believe it's time our guest earns her keep."

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"B-But I don't… I can't! I mean he's, he's…" Gnarl didn't know whether to be exasperated and agitated at the young woman's anxious rambling, or proud his master had inspire such pure and unbridled fear in the Faunus curled up on Blake's bed. Head between her knees, she gave her small frame a shake and almost shouted at him, anger and fear mixing together in her tone, "No. I won't go out on some mountain with that… That Human! He'll just kill me out there, where Blake can't find out!"

"Child, listen, you need to take a long and deep breath and cease your snivelling." He growled, wishing not for the first time his master hadn't ordered them to be gentle with the likes of the waif before him. In the old days, the things he'd have done to extract obedience… "We only wish for you to assist our master, the Dark Overlord, on an errand, of sorts, that has run into a snag."

"I'm not stupid." The girl countered, actually looking at him for the first time since he and the two Guard-Minions behind him had come into the room and she'd taken to hiding on the bed. As though fur and sheets would somehow protect her from them, amusingly. "I'm a terrorist and have been for years. Blake wants me safe. I go out there, though, he can say whatever he wants after he's killed me, and Blake is more likely to believe it."

"I believe you over value how much my Master cares for Mistress Blake's opinions, beyond how they affect Mistress Ruby's happiness." And she over estimated grossly how underhandedly clever his Master was as well, even if he'd had a couple strokes of genius with the bullheaded young man and the woman in their dungeons.

Two didn't make a pattern, though, he knew from past experience with Overlords he gave the benefit of the doubt and then buried.

"I gave my answer, and you can't force me to do anything but what I say." She responded stubbornly, dark eyes hard with spite, fear and obstinance.

In a way, the ludicrously old creature appreciated all three of those things in their own right, but right now they were quite simply in the way of his Master's wishes.

And that was a poor place to put oneself, unless one had the very best health insurance to market.

"If we wished you dead, I can assure you quite readily that we wouldn't need some underhanded scheming to get it done." He growled under his breath, tired by now of playing with his food, even if it was fun. He did have business to see to, after all, and this child was in the way. "You do not want to test my or my master's patience, girl. The consequences will be most unfortunate if you do, I assure you."

"I'm not afraid of your threats." The girl clearly was, but she asserted it all the same, forcing herself to relax at least visibly and cross her legs under her. Thumbs twiddling anxiously, she tried her bluff regardless, nearly impressing him for the second time that day. "You want my help, go get Blake, and she can come with me. Watch me climb down the cliff, since your giant Dust damn spiders apparently don't exist."

"They're too large, the sudden changes in the wind would rip the rocks free under their weight. I considered the young ones, but sadly they are too… Excitable and distractible." He sighed, headache threatening to form just at imagining trying to get a trio of the young spiders to ferry their Overlord down the cliff.

"I mean, I guess that makes sense…"

"Of course it does, you twit, because we aren't trying to kill you! Or threaten you, for that matter." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed and grinned, baring his fangs for the girl who flinched in response, "Minions, if she continues to ignore my commands, be ready to pin her down and call for reinforcements. If she doesn't behave and quit the back talking, we will have no choice but to cut out her tongue and see how her attitude fares then."

"W-What?!" She stiffened and he smiled ever wider, sharp teeth bared threateningly as she stammered, "W-What are you saying?"

"That, my insufferable little prisoner, was a threat. I just threatened you. Specifically, I threatened to have my Minions hold you down while I rip your tongue out." He grinned, taking a wonderfully sick and twisted amusement in the way her eyes widened and her bottom lip quivered. Not terribly, of course, but just enough to tickle his evil little heart. "Now do tell, do you see the difference?"

"But I-I didn't-"

"Know before? Oh do not fear, I know you were ignorant, and I forgive you. Don't worry though, child, you just had a learning experience." He interrupted her, stepping close to reach up and pat her thigh confidently. Grinning all the while, he turned to leave and tossed over his shoulder, raising fingers to count out his points as he walked. "First, you learned what it really feels like to be threatened! How exciting! And you, more importantly, learned to obey your Overlord."

"B-But I don't serve the Overlord…"

"Oh, your third lesson!" He cackled at he door, turning and scraping his claws against the stone, letting out a painful screeching tone. Grinning ferally yet again when she flinched at the sound, he explained simply, "Everyone, every single person on this pitiable rock, serves one of two ends. Serving the Overlord's interests, or giving him a wonderfully uncooperative plaything to take out his aggression and more… Base desires on."

"So," he finished, "decide which you want to be. Servant, coming with me to the Portal-Pool, or a plaything, to be stripped and used to practice my torture methods on."

When he left, he barely made it around a bend where he could no longer see the cat Faunus' door before he heard it bang open. Behind him, he saw the woman following, pulling on her coat as they went and staring at the ground defeatedly. Cowed properly, then, like a proper servant ought to be. He'd need to press the importance of keeping her under yoke and quivering in fear on his Overlord, of course, but he was already making progress in breaking the young Faunus in.

Now she'd seen the stick, he could try and come up with a proper carrot to reward her obedience, if she returned from a successful outing.

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"I'm grateful you agreed to help, Ilia. I know we don't get along all that much, so..." Honestly, he had been surprised when Gnarl suggested her, and even more so when she agreed to help him.

Overhead, the sun was beginning to dip past the apex of noon now, the girl standing behind him mutely, hands clasped in front of her stomach anxiously and dressed in her Fang uniform. For comfort and climbing, he supposed, looking at the textured gloves and knowing she'd been some kind of infiltrator for them. Hence their meeting, on a rooftop she'd had to have climbed to get onto, since it only had one entrance and he'd had an eye on it.

"Look, tell me if something is wrong, okay?"

"I-I'm fine, Overlord." She rushed to say, flinching when he stood and turned to her, bringing the haft of his axe down on the stone purposefully.

The action drew, as always, that satisfying 'clang' noise and she flinched slightly at it. For a moment, he saw her eyes flicker past him, to the cliff behind him, before she stepped back and away towards the steep incline that began only a couple feet behind him and rose to the cap of the mountain above. Once again, he looked up to it, breathing in the cold air and enjoying the sight like he always had as a child.

And that gave him an idea.

"I used to love looking up at these mountains as a kid." He droned gently, putting an effort into making it sound distracted and not reacting when she blinked and looked up at him. Turning, he took a seat on a rock at the edge of the cliff, axe laid across his legs comfortably. "I used to look up here when I was little and imagine fairies, playing in the snow."

"F-Fairies?" The mention of something as ridiculous as that was enough to shock her out of her fear of him.

Just like he'd hoped, if only for a moment.

"Yeah, I was… I was a dumb kid, but we all are at one point or another." He laughed and, if only just a little, he saw her relax at the warm sound. Shaking his head, he waved back the way they'd come and explained, "Ansel, that's the town you saw. I grew up there."

"It looks nice…"

"It is. It's a good place, where people can go to… Forget who they were, what they've done, who they did it for. Where race doesn't matter, as long as you do your share for the community." He trailed off for a moment, meeting the woman's confused stare with his own, eyes glowing through his helmet. Gently, he waved again, this time gesturing at her. "A place I would protect at all costs, and never risk. And where I could use a good woman, to watch my family for me."

"Y-You have kids?"

"What?" He blinked, the serious moment he'd worked so hard to cultivate broken in an instant at her surprised squeak. "No! I'm only eighteen, almost. I meant, like… My dad, my mom, my sisters, that kind of family."

"Oh…" He saw her scales flush cutely, then, and the woman blinked anxiously. Quietly, she murmured, "Yeah, that makes sense, I'm sorry…"

"It's fine, Ilia, it's… Fine." He sighed, rolling his eyes behind his helmet. An air for theatrics was something he had in spades, he knew, but apparently it didn't always work out. His mistake, lack of talent that he'd thought he had, or maybe just Ilia throwing it off, he couldn't be sure. "The point I was getting at was, once the Fang are dealt with… Ansel will be a safe place for you to settle."

"You'll… Let me go?" He could hear the disbelief in her voice and see it etched into her face and body, tense even when he nodded. Laughing weakly, barely more than a stunned guffaw of exhaled air, she gasped, "J-Just like that?"

"I reward those who serve me loyally and successfully, Ilia. Human, Faunus, Minion, you do your job and you get what you earned." His answer was simple, but seemed to motivate her well enough. When she nodded, he lifted the axe from his lap and held it out towards her, keeping the blade facing him to further sell that it wasn't a trick or trap of some kind. "Take this, tie it to your back, and climb down to the base of that tree. There will be a cave. Get inside with this and whistle, I will be there once you do."

"Magic, right?" Unasked was the obvious, if he was using the same ability as he's used in their fight. He nodded and she sucked in a breath, nodded as much to him as to herself, and reached out to take the weapon. He let it go and she clutched it to her chest in both hands, marvelling at it and murmuring, "It's so light…"

"It's enchanted to be lower weight, so I can fight longer and move with less hindrance. And so I can throw it, like you saw in our… Yeah." He explained, the woman holding it horizontally in a single hand and spinning it idly, like a baton. Tapping his chest, he added, "My armor has the same, as does my cloak. It should make it easier to climb down with it."

"I was worried about the weight, yeah." She nodded, still quiet but either less afraid of him now he'd joked with her, and given her a future out, or just hiding it better with a job to do. "I'll whistle when I get there, and give you some space to, er, magic your way down."

"And I will be waiting." He nodded, standing and asking, "Do you need rope or anything? Gnarl can-"

"I got it. I've climbed everything from Kingdom Walls to mountains, this is cake for someone like me." She assured him, stepping past him to the cliff edge and leaning over, arm outstretched to feel the breeze for several seconds.

Satisfied, she twisted at the waist and tugged at the back of the straps around her chest, pulling them free and sliding the halberd into place. Then, she took a couple steps back, and leapt off the cliff, twisting in midair like a cat as she fell. Surprised, to say the least after how scared she looked of the cliff before, he ran to the edge and looked down to see where she'd landed.

All he caught of her was a glimpse of her ruddy colored hair disappearing into the tree below.

"Well… She was an infiltrator, from what she explained to me." He shrugged, hearing her whistle a moment later and rising, raising his Gauntlet beside him and taking a deep breath. Fingers pressed together, he snapped theatrically, vision blurring and soon replaced by the dark interior of a cave.

"Good work, Ilia." He nodded, standing beside the shallows of a pool that led in, deepening, until the water turned a dark blue. In the water, he saw the flitting shapes of fish flicking and twisting, rushing away into the blackness as he stepped to the edge and peered into the short, long cave.

He couldn't see in the dark, but he knew Faunus could, and turned to give the woman a look. "See anything?"

"I see rocks piled into little walls, and…" She swallowed anxiously, but added, "And yellow… Yellow eyes. A bunch of them, staring out from the very back of the cave at us. Too far for even me to see in the dark."

Knowing what that meant, he ginned and raised his hand high into the air, the glowing gem facing into the cave and burning a bright red that lit the water a ruddy red in front of them, and bellowed, "To me, my Minions! Your master has come calling, at long last! So come to me, and serve!"

It only took a moment to hear his very favorite sound, echoing loudly from the back of the cave and out to them, "The Overlord!"

It took a few hours to pull the Hive from the water and haul it to the edge, after which he sent Ilia right back up the cliff with his axe in tow. Another whistle and, a hand on the Hive, he teleported himself - and it - to the top of the cliff, leaving his newly acquired Blues to climb up on their own. A demand they seemed surprisingly adept at, given their aquatic origin, but he supposed adaptation was a king among the court of skills to have.

Like the Hive itself, the Blues were smaller than the others, pale like water and covered in clusters of scabby spots like barnacles on a ship. Unlike the Browns who wore leathery coverings and fur wraps, or the Greens who wore old, tattered cloth wrapped around their frames when he found them, these were mostly naked, with simple loincloths hanging off their waists and nothing else. That would change very soon, he was certain, given how cold it was at the Tower. But he doubted they would care, too dumb to mind anything more than the access to the ocean they would have and the Overlord they could serve.

Finally, with Ilia beside him and three dozen spindly blue Minions hoiting the Hive behind him, he ordered them home.

"-she at, Gnarl!" He heard the sound before the crackling of the Portal faded and his vision returned, swiftly feeling something his size slam into him and shove him bodily out of the pool and onto his back beside it. Blinking, he caught a sight of amber eyes before he felt something press against his helmet, covering an eye. "Where is Ilia, Jaune? If you hurt her, I'll put a round right through your eye!"

"Blake, it's not what you think, okay? Just-"

"Why does anyone say that?" She asked, pressing the barrel of Gambol Shroud against his head roughly. Sensing his Minions' panic and anger, he held up a hand, curled into a single fist ordering them to 'hold'. She either didn't notice, or didn't care, straddling him and leaning down to hiss into his face, "People that say that are typically doing exactly what it looks like!"

"Blake?" He heard the Portal die a moment before he heard the chameleon's words, a moment before he felt the weight on his waist shift.

"Oh, hi, Ilia, funny you should show up." He sighed, fighting the urge to shove Blakeoff him and instead waving a hand easily. "Please tell your friend here I did not, in fact, hurt you at all. And that you still have a pulse, preferably."

"Uh...: Hi, Blake?" The smaller Faunus was, as always and of course, nervous at the sudden turn of events. He felt Blake shift to look at her, presumably to see if she'd been hurt, and Ilia explained, "He needed my help with something, so I… Helped him, and now we're back. I'm fine. He just... Can't climb like I can."

"Climb? What does that mean?" She asked, thankfully removing her gunbarrel from his eye, though she stayed on top of him and glared down at him. Like it was somehow his fault she had jumped to conclusions.

Though in annoying fairness, Ilia had seemed to harbo the same fears…

"The Blue Hive was located in a little cave, set into the cliffs behind Vale, facing the ocean." He explained, realizing only now how cruel that kind of was. They loved the water, but were relegated to a small lake in a cave, subsisting on fish, while they stared out at the ocean they would love to swim. "I couldn't make the climb down, but I knew Ilia could."

"Why not just use your Minions?" She asked, the same question Ilia had asked him not an hour previous. Now he thought about it, he supposed it would be obviously suspicious to anyone who didn't know the Ansel Range as well as he did. "Or the giant spiders? I mean, I see them climbing the Tower all the time. With Minions on, and five of them easily equals one of you. You shouldn't have needed Ilia for it."

"Can you please get off me first? I mean, I don't mind a pretty girl on top of me, but you're no Ruby." She blinked, flushed, and then mutely did as he asked, stepping away towards the balcony so she could watch him and the dozen or so assembled Minions warily. Rolling onto his knees he grabbed his axe and used it to pull himself to his feet, dusting off his armor and grunting a short, "Thanks."

Hopefully the comment about Ruby wouldn't get back to Yang, but he hadn't thought about it until now. He'd just wanted to be snippy.

Joy, blonde death was in the forecast for him again.

"Sorry, I just…" The woman sighed and shrugged unsurely, trailing off into silence. "I was worried about her."

"I get it, but I wish you people would trust me. I gave my word not to hurt her, didn't I? And an Arc always keeps his word." Even if an Overlord might not, he knew which order of titles he respected the most. An Overlord second, an Arc first, and always a hero before both. "Anyway, to answer your question, the Ansel Range has sheer cliffs on the opposite side, facing the ocean. Cold air from Atlas hits the warmer sea, and causes high winds along the Mantel Sea, that then comes into Sanus and shoots up the Ansel Range too hard and fast for anything large to climb it."

"And I'm a good climber, he… I guess he knew that, since I climbed up to the roof that night." The specifics of the night didn't need to be mentioned for Blake to flinch, ears flicking anxiously at the reference. "Or maybe Gnarl did, since he's the one who, uh, convinced me to help?"

"Oh yes, I can be quite coercive when I want to. Now, Master- Step aside you asinine oafs, I need to speak to the Master." The Hed Minion snarked, finally arriving, or more likely finally deciding to make his presence known, and pushing through the grouped Minions. Finally clear of them, and staring unamusedly at Blake, the creature asked in a nonchalant, goading way as he tended to like, "Now, Mistress, I have to ask… Do you regularly mount men in full public?"

"Eh?"

"Gnarl!"

"Blake?!" Ilia's shout was the loudest, the girl literally turning a shade of scarlet and stiffening on the spot, looking at the cat Faunus with wide eyes.

"Gnarl, I want Giblet to get to work on a new, enchanted wooden spoon for Ruby." The creature whined, eyes wide in fear and lip trembling as it started stammering protests, and Jaune raised a hand. Smiling under his helmet, he shrugged and simply added, "I hope you enjoyed your joke, Gnarl. Because now Ruby is going to have you slaving to make her the cookies she so loves."

"Master…" The creature whined but, at an angry wave, turned to sadly ord a handful of Minions away towards the Forge to have Giblet set to work. Turning back, and sounding pained as it did, Gnarl sighed, "It will be done, my Lord."

"You, explain everything to Blake for me. I don't want any more guns in my face, or surprise attacks from your Blake." The Cat woman bristled at the term but Jaune ignored her entirely, instead turning and speaking to the Minions now. "All of you, get to work integrating the new Hive and bulking the Blue's numbers. I want a hamlet built for them, too, by the coast nearby. Something small, easily hidden, you know the drill."

It was what they were used to, he knew, after centuries laying low and hiding instinctively. Already, a handful were turning, heading off to corral Worker-Minions to set to work on either task. Personally, he looked forward to having the healing potential of the Blues on side almost as much as having them around to fish. Venison and forage was good, but after only having that for eight months now, nearly?

He needed some fish around here…

"I'm going back out, now. Half of you," he waved a hand at the Blues, "come with me, we need to see about healing some injuries. If we heal Amber, then Cinder might be able to be ours. And with that, revenge!"

"Er, Master…" Gnarl's words were lost in a resounding, thunderous cheer from his Minions. Most of whom, he knew, had no idea what the revenge was for, but were cheering regardless. For their Overlord, or just because everyone else was, it didn't much matter to him at the end of the day. Once it quieted down, the small creature coughed awkwardly and called out to him, "Master, you have, er, visitors awaiting you in the courtyard."

"Visitors?" He hadn't been expecting anyone, and everyone he was working with would have told him about it. It took him a minute but he blinked, nodding understandingly as he finally recalled. "Ah. Yes. Those two, Qrow should have brought them here. That who is waiting for me, Gnarl?"

"Yes, Master."

"Hm…" That gave him an idea as well, one that held a lot of risks in its own right, but a lot of potential benefits as well. Tapping the base of his axe against the stone floor he finally nodded. "I'll go and see them first, then. Send word to Ozpin that I will be by tomorrow morning to try and heal Amber, and reiterate until you turn blue in the face that it may fail."

"Of course, Master. I will make it very, very clear how our limitations stand." Gnarl nodded, the duo more than aware of how likely them failing really was, as little as they knew about the injuries Amber had suffered.

"Good." He could trust Gnarl to handle Ozpin, the two seemed to get along well enough by what little he'd seen. Or they were both great actors, and despised each other. Regardless, a Jaune that didn't have to deal with ozpin was a happier Jaune. "Send Guard-Minions to retrieve Cinder before you leave, and have her brought out to the courtyard."

"Punishment with her little pets here?" The Minion cackled, shaking its head wryly. "Oh, my Master, how cruel! How evil! How… Nonsensical, you really shouldn't provoke them needlessly. Or do you have a plan?"

"No punishment, Gnarl." He grunted simply, "Rather, negotiation with our enemy, to see if we can't finally make some real headway."

With a little luck, he might be able to find a way to punish Cinder and go after the White Fang at the same time. And do so immediately, without needing to play games with Ozpin to get him and Ironwood on his side. Though really, he might just go to Ironwood directly and ignore Ozpin entirely, working with him to get the Tower recognized properly and destroy the White Fang.

A perfect plan for going forward, fallen right into his lap thanks to Qrow's bleeding heart.

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Thank you for all the well wishes. I am doing marginally better, though still not at a hundred, as you may all understand. So if it's a little rough in places, I apologize sincerely.

Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I reintegrated some ideas about the Minion fetching scene I originally envisioned into this, though I had to streamline slightly, so I hope it works out. Mostly, I just wanted to show some of the process of getting there.

Stay Twisted, my friends~!

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Archive note : All caught up, so Comment Responses and Review Responses will start next chapter~!


	37. It Cost Her an Arm, no a Leg

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Strap in, ladies and gents, because this chapter is code named ‘when Jaune says fuck it, let’s make a deal and kill some bitches’ and Qrow picks a side finally. Fair warning, there’s a lot of jumps between characters for the first bit of the chapter. Sorry if that is annoying, a bit.

Also, the building up I have been doing for the ‘political’ side of things, so to speak this isn’t really politicking but you get the gist, ALL comes to a head in this chapter. 

XxX----XxX----XxX

“What-What if he’s done something to her?” Emerald asked anxiously, shivering in the cold air. Distantly, Mercury wanted to heckled her for not dressing warmer, but the moment she’d heard they could see Cinder, she’d grabbed her combats and stripped down to get dressed, Mercury’s presence be damned. 

“Then we’ll know she’s not dead, at least.” He sighed, shouldering off his thin, but warm, grey windbreaker and awkwardly holding it out for the red-eyed girl. The woman’s brow furrowed at it and then at him and he grimaced and offered a simple, quiet, “You’re cold.”

“I’m fine…”

“If we have to try and break Cinder out, your hands shivering will throw off your aim.” He insisted, even if he knew for a Dust damn fact they wouldn’t even try to pull that. 

Not with the hundred and change of Minions surrounding them, sitting on top of the building that surrounded the courtyard they stood in, at least. All of the creatures chittering and watching the trio mostly quietly. Just waiting loyally on their master to arrive, like hounds almost, and all of them clutching weapons or tools in their clawed hands. Enough that if a fight started, combined with the Overlord himself, they would be simply overrun.  
That kind of thing he’d seen well enough to know they’d never try something here, but the words had the desired effect regardless.

“...Fine.” She finally, weakly agreed, willing to do anything if it meant even a chance of helping Cinder. Stiffly, like she was uncomfortable with it, she took the jacket and pulled it on, and then tried to hide the contented breath she let out as the jacket - and his latent warmth - took effect and relieved some of the chill. “Thank you, Merc.”

“No problem.”

“You’re slightly less of an ass than I always thought you were.” The insult earned a snort of amusement from him, and a smile at even the slightest hint of her former self coming through. If she saw his reaction, she didn’t comment, though. Instead, she turned at the sound of wood clanging against stone and stiffened, “Cinder…”

“Damn…”

The woman’s fine red dress was gone entirely, leaving her in the fitted spank shorts she wore under it and her fitted silk undershirt. Both were torn in places, though he couldn’t make out any wounds or scars, or even blood on the black clothing, so he was willing to wager it had been done to humiliate rather than hurt her. Keeping to his word on that end, he supposed, since he’d promised not to hurt her.

Her hair was matted as well, and dirty like the rest of her, with splotches of sticky white stuff that hung in long whisps off the side of her head and her shoulders. Webbing, he guessed from looking at it, based on what had happened when she’d been taken from them in the first place. Thick leather bindings held her legs together at the knees, forcing her to hobble awkwardly as she was led by the Overlord who hand a leash that ran back to her bound hands. A leather strap with a chunk of hard leather had been shoved in her mouth, too, likely hoping to shut the woman up. A venture he could, distantly, understand pursuing. Cinder could really get under a person’s skin sometimes, she had a talent for it.

She’d not been blindfolded, though, which let them all see the fiery defiance still smoldering in her eyes as the Overlord hurled her ahead of him. The woman grunted as she fell, landing in the snow and shivering, but then she straightened up and looked at them with narrowed eyes, seemingly chafed by her treatment but not caring beyond that.

“As you can see, she’s not hurt.” The dark armored man intoned simply, bringing the haft of his axe down and calling to the Minions around them. Voice booming intimidatingly, the man ordered in the kind of voice and tone that had even Mercury himself wanting to obey to avoid whatever consequences would come for not doing so. “Back to work! These two are of no threat to your ruler, and you’ve roads to clear and pave. So unless you doubt me, wish to insult me, be gone and get to work!” 

Around them hundreds, maybe even closer to a thousand, little creatures chittered and crowed their ascent before turning and leaving. Some dropped into the courtyard and left through doors, and others disappeared beyond the edge of the high walls and out of sight, leaving them in quiet within a minute of the hurried departure.

“Now then, now that we have some privacy, we can talk.” The Overlord said simply, in spite of the two Faunus women off to his one side. Belladonna he recognized, but the other he didn’t aside from the Fang mask hanging on her waist. “What is it you two want, then? I’m assuming you’re just falling victim to your kindness, Qrow.”

“Yeah.” The man behind them sighed, “Bleeding heart like mine, couldn’t refuse. Figured nothin’ was wrong with talking to them.”

“I don’t mind, really. Ruby would kill me if I got angry at you for not being a dick.” The Overlord nodded, catching his eye on the mask and chuckling before the man answered the unasked question, voice loud and carrying around them commandingly. “Her name is Ilia and she is a… Recent acquisition, you could say. A turncoat of the White Fang, captured after I killed one of their leaders and now joined to my cause. Isn’t that right, Ilia?”

“I-I don’t, I mean, I haven’t...” Blake beside her brushed her hand against hers and the woman stiffened, scales flashing red for a moment before returning to normal. Swallowing, she tried again. “I mean yes, sort of, I, uh, I’m on his side. Against the Fang. To, you know… To stop them getting more good people killed.”

“I as well.” Blake nodded, ears flicking free in the open air and making clear just how important her allegiance was in all of this. “The White Fang aren’t what they once were, and they need to be stopped.”

There was something more there, something he couldn’t see fully but that was there regardless, just discernible for what Cinder had taught him about feeling out the connections between people. He could tell from the way Ilia looked at Blake, as though scared and relieved at the same time. 

“Violent ends to stop a group’s violent means because they are being violent?” Emerald barbed before he could think on it further, already looking to cut the group apart. Employing lessons Cinder had taught her, he was sure. “What kind of person does something like that?”

“I-I didn’t run because they were violent.” Blake argued simply, a tale he’d heard once or twice from other, older members of the Fang. The ones willing to talk to him, at least, though that opened up some if he talked about his legs and what had been done to him. “I left because they were violent against people that hadn’t done anything to earn it.”

“Really now?” Raising a thin eyebrow, the woman crossed her arms and finished with a dismissive, “I spoke to people in the Fang, and they all said you ran because of that same violence. That you ran because you couldn’t stomach hurting people that hadn’t personally done wrong. But from what I know, you’re here helping him go after people that didn’t personally do anything.” 

“It was on their orders, though.” Blake argued, face set but eyes betraying her unsurety. Her fear, even. A good poker face, but one that didn’t reach her eyes. 

“Kind of hypocritical then, isn’t it?” Emerald pushed, “To come right back and use it on them?”

“I-I don’t…”

“It wasn’t her choice, actually. I decided to wage a personal war on the bastards, and she is on for the ride to help mitigate my… Tendencies.” The Overlord chose that moment to step in, literally stepping in front of the Faunus and even bringing his axe across himself in a veiled threat. “I can be excitable when I make people pay for hurting my own. Bit of a problem on my part. I’m man enough to admit to my flaws, and I have a lot of them.”

“We can see that.” Their benefactor grunted from behind them, voice low as always. The Overlord growled a response and Qrow tried to defuse him, waving a hand at the bound woman instead and explaining. “Got your little friend here all trussed up. Kinda makes the point for you. What would Ruby say, seeing you treat someone like this?”

“Probably nothing you would enjoy hearing her say, old man. She can be kind of mouthy.” Snickering, he yanked it back and she fell, legs kicking out as she landed on the cold stone steps. “Careful, Cindy. It’s slippery out here, you know. Chilly, too, where’s your jacket young lady? Why, I’ve half a mind to ground you to your room, coming out dressed like that.”

“Mrph!” She snarled up at him, hands reaching up to tug at her gaga for a moment before the man yanked them away. “Mph, mrble.”

“As you can both see, she’s fine and dandy. Right Cinder? Speak up if you have some complaints, I won’t begrudge some criticism on my hospitality.” The woman only glared, scooching up on the steps and then rising in a sit-up, knees folding under herself. Hearing nothing, he shrugged and turned to them. “See? Nothing to say.”

“Let her the fuck go!” Emerald’s hand flashed up faster than Mercury could catch it, one of her machine-pistols in hands steadied by years of training. Her dark eyes glared hard enough that, if looks could kill, he was sure the man would have gone up in a pyre hot enough Atlas would have a breakout of swimwear sales. “Let Cinder go or-or I’ll shoot you.”

“Try it, and you’ll die.” The man warned, seemingly not even remotely fazed by her threats. Leaning into the words slightly, eyes glowing from behind his visor, the man demanded, “Drop the weapon or join her in a cell. But remember, I am under no obligation not to kill you like I am not to kill her.”

“Jaune!” The larger Faunus moved, stepping between them and looking up at him. “This isn’t what Ruby would-”

“You just put a gun in my face not an hour back, Blake.” He snapped back at her, adding more gently after a moment, like he was sorry to have snapped. “And Ruby is fine with me killing people who point weapons at me, she’s said so herself in not so many words. I care about you, so you’re exempt from that, but she isn’t.”

It was strange, but it almost felt like the man was struggling not to lash out. Struggling to be nice, or polite at least, to all of them. What to do about that, he wasn’t sure, but it was something he observed.

“Kid, come on. I know you like to be pretty damn edgy sometimes, but… This is too far, even for you.” Qrow reasoned, pushing past the green-haired woman and giving her a stare until she begrudgingly lowered the gun. Nodding, he offered a simple, clean, “Thank you.”

“We just want our…” Friend? Cinder was definitely not that, to say the very least. Emerald might call her a mother, but he certainly wouldn’t do so to her face. Instead, he used the best word he had, “Leader. We just want our leader back, sir. Highness,” he tried, the man’s helmet recoiling and then tilting to the side slightly, considering him or something about him while he talked, “we just want her back. So just… Tell us what you want that can make that happen.”

“And what makes you think there is anything you can offer me not to kill her?”

“Salem didn’t offer you anything except to eventually offer you something later, down the line.” Mercury countered, earning multiple sets of eyes on him with questions burning behind them. Anxious, he stepped forward and Qrow gave way for him, stepping off to the side while the man spoke. “We can offer you something now, and you let her go. I-I mean, have you even thought of what you might want from Salem?”

“An alliance, maybe.” He shrugged, stepping back and resting on his heels, axe at his side. “I have a lot on my plate lately, I don’t know. Non-aggression from the Grimm, if nothing else, would be nice.”

“Ruby would never tolerate either of those, and you know that.” Blake chimed in gently, clearly wary of him after he’d snapped at her before. Wary, but unwilling to give ground entirely, which made her a braver woman than he’d have expected based on the Fang’s rumor mill. “The only way this hostage exchange of yours ends is-”

“War with Salem.” Qrow interrupted, nodding to the woman who shook her head and let him take the lead. Pulling all the heat onto himself, the man argued as best he could. Which honestly wasn’t terribly well, considering his inebriated state, though that was essentially his state of being. “Her mom died because of Grimm, she’s not about to agree to work with them, no matter how she feels about you.”

“Isn’t that her decision?”

“It is, but I know what she’ll pick.” The man countered, raising an eyebrow, “No offence, but I’ve known her a hell of a lot longer than you have, kid. Unless you think she’ll end up letting you put a ring on it if it comes down to you killing me?”

“I won’t kill you!” The Overlord argued simply, bringing his axe down on the snow and stone angrily. Then he glanced to it, turned it in his hand and hurled it across the courtyard, where it embedded in the snow, ice and dirt there. “I don’t kill my friends, Qrow. And I count you as one, kind of. Don’t act like you believe I’d kill you.”

“You do anything but side against Salem and you won’t have that choice.” The man smiled sadly with the words and nodded apologetically, and then gestured at the two teenagers with him with a wave of his hand. “These kids? Listen, Cinder’s a bitch, and I would kill her myself for what she did to Amber, but these kids deserve better. And she’s done right by them.”

“Saved my life.” Mercury offered, seeing the chance and taking it, slamming his foot into his shin and sending a metal echo around them. “Gave me my legs back, too, after my dad took them. She’s a frosty bitch, but she’s not evil. Just… Selfish.”

“Mrflish?”

“Listen, please, take the gag off. Let’s talk about this, okay? About all of this.” Mercury asked, waving his arm in a big circle south, as though to encompass every single aspect of what made up ‘this’. “Because if half of the tiny bit Cinder has said about her mistress is true, then you can’t trust her to keep her word.”

“Can I not?”

“No. She’s… Cinder, but a thousand times worse.” He couldn’t be sure of that, of course, but the woman had to have gotten her vindictive nature from somewhere. And Salem seemed as good a source as any, not to mention useful here. “You have all the power here, Highness. All I ask is that you let us have a moment to offer you something beneficial.”

“...Take the gag off.” He commanded, tossing the leather leash onto the snow beside the shivering woman. She glanced to it and then to him and he nodded, stepping back and away to lean on the wall of his courtyard, arms crossed over his chest. “They want to talk, so let’s talk. Take the gag off, but try anything and you lose an eye, to start with. Probably more.”

“Salem said you couldn’t-”

“She probably would say I can’t negotiate to stab her in the back, either, but it seems implied she’s going to do it to me. And you want me to do it to her. Do you really want to talk to me about sticking to what Salem wants right now?” Jaune cut across the young, brown skinned woman. Her jaw closed so hard it clicked and he nodded, “That’s what I thought. Cinder, take it off, and answer clearly. Do you think Salem is keeping her end of the bargain? Or is she trying to find a way to get one over on me?”

“The latter, definitely and with not a shadow of doubt in my mind.” The woman answered, holding the ball of leather in her hands and working her jaw with a grimace. If she had complaints, though, she knew better than to voice them. Instead, she elaborated, “If I know her, she’ll look for a loophole. She keeps her word, true, but only to the letter. Even when your spiders came, I knew she would have some ploy in the works.”

“How do you mean?”

“If she swore not to attack you, or Beacon, that doesn’t mean she can’t attack other people. Other places. Places and people you may hold dear, but which would count as neither Beacon nor ‘your people’.” She answered simply, giving him a thin smile, unable to help herself as she flexed her proverbial muscles. Always the cocky, arrogant one, Cinder had been, though not without good reasons in a lot of ways. “Your family, for instance, might make an opportune target. And one that you did not include by name in your demands.”

“It should have been obvious.”

“Indeed, but that won’t matter to her.” Cinder remarked, “What will matter is that you did not specifically forbid targeting them. If I were her, I would aim for a hostage of some kind. Or two, to trade for me and still have a spare. Do you have a particularly large family?”

“Seven sisters…”

“And a mother and father too, I am sure.” She nodded, taking far too much pleasure in the situation for a woman half-naked and shivering in the Atlesian weather. That smile vanished swiftly, though, and she spoke with a certainty that brooked no doubt. “If any of them are disparate, she will find them, and use them against you. I would not say she fears you, she’s not the type. But she respects you as opposition, and so will not hesitate to leverage whatever she can for support against you.”

“And where does that leave you?” The Overlord demanded hotly, kneeling and pointing a claw at her menacingly, hovering only a couple inches away from her throat. A throat that had a little silver bracelet that tracked Aura through the body and stymied it, Mercury knew, meaning that it was a throat that was bare of any protection. “If Salem is hostile, you are useless as a hostage. You’d better have something to trade.”

“How about the location of one Sienna Khan, and the current headquarters of the White Fang outright as well?” She offered, confident in spite of the veritable dagger to her throat. Eyes narrow and watching him, she explained, “I ordered Adam to leverage his contacts in the White Fang for Lien and Dust, yes, but his decisions were his own in how to do that. And the decisions of the people with Sienna, of course. I had nothing to do with it, at least not directly.”

“Are you saying ignorance of the crime should beget innocence?”

“Not at all, but my crimes should be punished accordingly to my actions and my value.” She answered confidently, smiling the same way Mercury had seen her do in bars and restaurants. A smile that could make a man swoon, she’d said once when he asked, though in her present state it looked more glassy than he was sure she’d have liked. “I am a Maiden, so I have power unrivaled by most people on this planet. And Salem clearly has no intent to keep me around after this. I would wager she’s finding a usable replacement even now, point of fact.”

“Cinder gets back for wrongs done to her, and you get a handful of useful allies. And a fast track right to the head of the snake, so to speak.” Emerald cut in, desperate in voice and body language both to help her precious Cinder however she could. “She wouldn’t trust any of us after this anyway, and you still get your revenge.”

“So you can have me as your ally, or servant if you prefer given your… Titles and holdings.” She gestured with her chin at the area around them, and the Tower itself. “Myself, dear Emerald and Mercury, all at your disposal. A team of moderately elite, decently trained Hunters, loyal to you.”

“Why would you ever be loyal to me?” He asked simply, gesturing at her state, “I haven’t exactly treated you very well.”

“Because you’d be giving me my life back, and hopefully revenge against Salem as well. Or if not that, at the very least protection from her.” She answered, sitting up further and letting the Gauntlet’s sharp finger rest against her throat. “In payment for that, I would be whatever you asked. Do whatever you asked, even. I am loyal to those I serve, so long as I am not cast aside like so much trash. My life and basic respect, that is all I wish for in exchange for these things.”

“And you will swear to me?” He asked simply, “Regardless of what I’ll have you do, you will serve the Tower?”

“Yes.” She nodded, “So long as you keep your end of the deal, of course. If you try to kill me, or hand me off like Salem did, I will understandably turn against you.”

“Very honest of you to say.”

“Honesty is a good trait, and one owed to whoever is worthy of commanding me.” She shrugged simply, smiling confidently in spite of the claw at her throat. Like she already knew the result of this all, which seemed nearly impossible to the young amputee that had caused this meeting. “And besides, all you have to do to ensure that I can’t return to her is make obvious I have turned to you.”

“This could all be a ploy.” He accused gently, his voice betraying how he was considering it. Weighing it as an option, which only a few hours past was more than Mercury had dared hope for. 

“A ploy that relies on Qrow’s sympathy for me and for mine?” She laughed and gave a small shake of her head at the notion. “If this is a ploy of Salem’s, some kind of game to bank on her enemy's sympathies, then I am not privy to it. I would never take such a great risk as what this alleged plan would entail.”

“It could still be one.”

“If it is, she’s used me as a sacrificial pawn, and done so without even the base respect to tell me I would be.” She shrugged, the gesture shivery and erratic in the cold weather. “So I’d still turn against her, after such treatment. And she knows this. I would die, if you handed me back to her, if only to forestall any revenge she might envision.”

“That would waste a lot of time, building up to this.”

“She’s immortal, time is irrelevant to her in every single way.” Cinder countered easily, eyeing the Gauntlet on his arm for a moment and then grimacing. “If you don’t, or won’t, trust me than test me. 

For a long, long moment no one spoke or moved. Finally, though, the Overlord knelt and grabbed her arms with his less armored hand, yanking them up and using a talon to cut the leather like so much butter. She let him, too, not daring to move or do anything but breathe until his hands closed on the little circlet on her neck.

“You have one chance to prove your loyalty and worth, Fall. Fail to give me the Fang, fail to show yourself loyal to the highest standard anyone involved with this can imagine and, well…” With a twist, he snapped the expensive electronics and the woman swallowed, a hand coming to rest on her throat grimly. “Are we clear?”

“Yes, Master.” The woman nodded, Jaune returning the gesture and rising. He didn’t offer her a hand as she stood, but she did so regardless, albeit on shaky and shivering legs, her arms curling around her body to hug herself for warmth. “What is your first command for me, then?”

“Find Gnarl, and show him on a map where the Fang are. Tell him to see if there is some magic he knows of that can force your loyalty.” He ordered simply, watching her frown for a long moment, testing her. Finally, she nodded, though, and he seemed to relax somewhat. “And have him issue you two Guard-Minions to babysit you, as well. Blake, Ilia, escort her. She tries anything, anything at all, and you raise the alarm.”

Various forms of ‘yes sir’ echoed from the women and then they left, the two Faunus walking behind the woman with their hands on weapons. He watched them go before finally turning to the other three, as though he’d forgotten about them for a moment. 

“You two,” he pointed his Gauntlet at Mercury and his partner, “get inside, and follow them, inform Gnarl I want the same solution for you if possible. Guard-Minions for you both, as well. You do anything, and I will make you watch me have Cinder flayed alive before your own turns on the rack. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Yes, Master.” Emerald even bowed at the waist at the words, rushing to follow them while Mercury hesitated. 

“Qrow, get Ruby here, Ozpin too if you can, and Amber as well if that’s even possible. I need to talk to both of them, sort out how we deal with all this.” He ordered it as much as he asked, tuning to the man and adding, “The Fang burns today or tomorrow either way, you make it clear.” 

“Oz won’t like coming here…”

“Tell him a show of faith will earn him the trust of the Overlord, and he will probably be willing to come. If only to add a piece to his board.” The Hunter grimaced nodded before he, too, brushed by the Overlord and began to make his way up into the Tower. He turned to look at Mercury then and asked, sounding surprised, “What?”

“Thank you, I… Thank you.” Was his only answer as he stepped by him and began to climb the stairs of the Tower. 

Distantly, he heard the man murmured disbelievingly, “What do they think I am? Some kind of Grimm here to steal their souls? Fuck sake…”

XxX----XxX----XxX

“You must be joking, Qrow. Joking or mad, surely, to think I would walk into the den of a lion just because it is somewhat tamed.” Ozpin laughed, standing in front of him and shaking his head with a wan, disbelieving smile. 

“Look, Oz, I know you don’t like it, but you have to hear him out.” Qrow tried to argue, watching the man pace anxiously. “It’s a good opportunity.”

“It’s insanity is what it is, Qrow! There, I would be at his mercy. And if he is courting Cinder Fall’s allyship, what else could he be courting?” He countered, leaning against his desk in his office and drumming the fingers of a hand on the desk while his mind raced. Allying with someone who’d only just a while ago sided with Salem herself, and trusting an Overlord of all things to control her was simply, “Insanity…”

“Oz…” The man sighed, shaking his head and grunting, “This is ridiculous. You’re being too stubborn.”

“The risks, Qrow… They’re too great…” He murmured as he lost himself to his own mind. A mind that raced with thoughts, plans, risks, and suspicions. 

Along with his other half’s worries and fears, ancient eyes searching the room like it would hold answers to whatever he thought up. 

None came, of course, and he turned to look at the quiet man again with a frown. “And he wants me to bring him the other half of the Fall Maiden’s powers? Right after unshackling that woman? I knew I shouldn’t have trusted his kind.”

“His kind, Ozpin?” Qrow demanded suddenly, sharply, storming past him and slamming a fist down into the man’s desk hard enough to crack the wood. Surprised, the ancient man blinked and looked to him, mouth half open for the shock of it. “He’s a decent kid that showed up here, to your damn Academy, and gave his life for a dream. A dream to fight, to protect people, to be a hero damn it!”

“But he-”

“I’m not fucking done, Oz!” He bellowed, slamming his fist down into the wood again for emphasis and ignoring the searing pain in his knuckles as he did. Pushing off it, he continued in a tone so low it was almost a growl, pointing at the ancient man who could only watch his normally reserved - albeit drunken - man glare at him. “You are the one that always talks about setting aside prejudices. About forgiveness. About how we should all keep moving forward. Right?”

“Yes.” Ozpin nodded, “But this isn’t mere prejudice, Qrow.”

“You trusted him not ten minutes ago, before I told you about the changes being made. What changed between now and then, except you needing to trust someone?” Qrow pointed out simply. 

“I…”

“You what, Oz?” The man grimaced, but didn’t answer, and Qrow sighed, “Exactly, Oz. Prejudice just like what you have right here? It’s caused wars, including the one the kid is fighting. That is what you always say about it, anyhow. Were you lying? Wrong?”

“No…” Ozpin swallowed and collected himself, taking a deep breath and finishing, “No to both questions, Qrow. I was not lying and I do not believe I am wrong.”

“Then you need to listen up, because I am getting tired of this… This game between you two. You trust him, then you don’t, you have reasons, and then you start talking about ‘kinds’. You need to pick a spot to stand in here.” The man paused for a split second there, as though thinking, before he grunted simply and firmly, “Because I have.”

“What?”

“I’ve lost so much, fighting your war. And now, Salem is scared of something, Ozpin. Just like you are, or maybe even more.” Qrow explained, shaking his weary head and taking a long breath. A breath that, as his shoulders and face spoke of, bore a new weight he didn’t like but wouldn’t resist. “Salem is afraid, and that has to be for a reason. She’s trying to buy his favor, or at least his neutrality. Do you know why?”

“I… Could think of reasons, yes.” The ancient man nodded, and then grimaced when Qrow gestured for him to speak. “With his Minions, he has an, at the least technically, inexhaustible army. All it needs is lifeforce to reinstate, which he can harvest from animals readily and would do so simply from hunting and fishing. And Grimm too, at least in theory, though I don’t know for fact.”

“So she can’t outnumber him, and she knows that.”

“Precisely.” Ozpin sighed, moving around his now ruined table to sit in his chair and run his hands along the wood and glass of it. Such an old desk, and now it would sadly need to be replaced. “He could compete with her numbers and, as important likely, her magic as well. Given enough time, an Overlord could conquer the entire planet, and establish a dynasty into eternity.”

“And do you think he wants that?” He held up his hand when, too quickly, Ozpin made to answer and clarified. “And I don’t mean the Overlord, Ozpin. I mean Jaune Arc.”

“I… Do not know.”

“But you won’t trust him regardless, even though you think him a good man- Your words, Ozpin!” He cut off when the man made to interrupt, half-standing to argue. He waited until his boss grimaced and fell back into his seat to continue. “You won’t risk everything on a gamble. The same gamble men and women have died for, families have been broken for. I gave up my entire tribe, Ozpin!”

“I’m sorry…”

“Be better, not sorry, Ozpin.” He dismissed simply, shrugging and letting his hand fall from his blade lazily. Cutting a hand between them, he finished simply and coldly, “Ruby has made her loyalty clear, she’s arming up for a battle right now. Her team, too, along with Juniper. My nieces are all I have now, Ozpin. Where they fight, I do. And for who, too, for that matter.”

“...I see.”

“We’re leaving in fifteen minutes, Ozpin.” Qrow grunted, turning and walking towards the elevator door. There he paused for a moment, turning to look over his shoulder at him and nodding respectfully. “Make the right choice here, Ozpin. For everyone’s sakes. Please.”

The door dinged closed behind him, and that was the last he saw of the man.

“Well… That was interesting, wasn’t it?” Gnarl, voice crackling over the long distant Scroll call, snarked playfully. The little cretin had called on orders from Jaune, apparently, to discuss other matters. “So, how about seven? That sound good for me to come and revive your now redundant half-Maiden?”

With a snarl, Ozpin hurled the device at the wall where it shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. Groaning, the man held his head in his hands, and began to think. Think and talk, to another part of himself whose opinions he needed before he would risk the man’s life again. Swiftly, he made Ozpin’s decision for him, and the ancient knight reached for his cane and stood to leave.

XxX----XxX----XxX

Twenty minutes passed before the old man joined them outside the cave under Beacon’s plateau, Qrow waiting impatiently for him with a single Guard Minion, so they would have someone to ferry them through the Portal. The reason for the delay was very quickly revealed when Glynda pushed through the undergrowth behind him, her eyes narrowed on him as soon as she saw him waiting.

Or maybe it was the Minion beside him scratching its rear end that earned that...

“Glad you could join us after all, Oz.” Qrow offered coldly when he and Glynda both arrived, the woman prim and proper as she always was. He gave her a nod and asked, leisurely laying his hands across the back of his waist with a calm expression, and even a smile, plastered across his face. “Why is she coming along too, though? You were invited, she wasn’t.”

“She is my chief advisor, Qrow. I would not go somewhere to make decisions without her.” Smiling diplomatically, for diplomacy was needed with his former erstwhile ally now, he leaned on his cane and tilted his head to the side gently. “Or did you really expect me to come to the belly of the beast to make decisions fit for kings, all without my chief protector and confidant?”

“Mhm.” He sighed, turning to the blonde woman and offering a more genuine smile and nod to her. “Glyn. How are you doing today?”

“I could be better. I could be back at Beacon, preparing classes and not worrying about having had to hand mine off to Peter to plan. Unfortunately, it appears that Ozpin’s regular field agent is… No longer batting for our team.” Qrow winced at that, though more so at needing to rely on Peter than at his leaving Ozpin’s employment. 

He didn’t regret that, after all, so he wouldn’t act like he did.

“I’ve given him a hell of a lot over the years, Glyn.” He explained simply, the faces of more friends - family, even - flashing by before he could so much as finish the thought. Resisting the itch to reach for his little silver flask, he smiled sadly and shrugged, letting out a long breath before he went on. “Time just came to side with my family, you know?”

“And against Ozpin?”

“With Ruby isn’t against Ozpin unless Ozpin decides it is. And if he’d done that with me there, I would have stabbed him in the back before I let him hurt my nieces.” He answered as fast as she’d asked it, the woman’s eyes narrowing dangerously at the words. Her hand hovered over her crop and he glanced to Ozpin, his own hand hovering over the pommel of his sword while the man watched on. “Gonna speak up, or let something start?”

At the words, the blonde woman turned to look at him, ever the most loyal of his allies and ready to fight, die or kill for him. Beside the Huntsman, the Minions stood with his halberd ready to do the same, though the old man knew he wouldn’t accomplish anything for the effort. Ozpin or Glynda would swat the creature like a fly, and it would be two against one, though so close to the Portal-Shrine in the cave that wouldn’t last for very long.

“...He’s made his decision, Glynda, and I won’t begrudge him it.” Ozpin finally spoke, after just long enough to make him sweat. Smiling congenially, he shrugged and finished simply, “He has chosen to retire from my service, and focus on family. Such is life, I am afraid, for one such as I.”

“If you are certain…”

“It isn’t like we have options, now is it?” The other, older man laughed, but Qrow could feel the dig at him in there. Laced just under the words, to make certain he knew Ozpin hadn’t forgotten their argument, and that he wouldn’t do so soon. Smiling still, the man asked, “Now, as you are our guide, shall we?”

There was heat between them all now, he could tell. But even if he didn’t care if Ozpin held a grudge for him leaving, it wasn’t a choice he regretted. Before, when Ruby and Yang had been on the same side, sort of at least, as Ozpin things had been different. Now, though? Now he was with them, thick or thin, hell or high water, and as sad as Ozpin’s attitude and Glynda’s icing made him, he wouldn’t change his mind. 

Was this how Tai felt, though? He;d ask later, when they met up.

“Sure.” He finally sighed and shrugged. “Come on, I’ll show you in.”

XxX----XxX----XxX

“Jaune, are you… Sure about this?” Ruby murmured, having rushed up to him and then tugged him out of the throne room when the teams arrived. Standing in the shadowed stairs that led down from the upper floors, he watched the Minions setting up the throne room for a moment before turning to her, head angled in a clear question. “Cinder is… She’s responsible for all of this, what happened to Emilia I mean. Isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is, though according to her and what evidence and reasoning I see, only insofar as she told Taurus to gather Dust and Lien.” Jaune answered, feeling his ire rise at the mere mention of Emilia and what had happened to his people. “Rest assured, this is not a reward. And she isn’t going free. A life of servitude is her punishment for her connection to what happened, assuming that she actually meets her damn side of the agreement.”

“Still…” Ruby pursed her lips and turned, leaning back against the wall beside him and resting her head on his arm, disregarding the armor entirely as she did. “I just really, really don’t like it.”

“Would you prefer I ally with the Grimm?”

“What, no!” She pushed off the wall suddenly to glare up at him in confusion and concern, silver eyes narrowed. “That isn’t on the table is it?”

“It was, though simply swearing not to oppose the Queen of Grimm was a more likely agreement, according to everyone I’ve asked.” He didn’t explain what he would be agreeing not to oppose, knowing Ruby could imagine. And judging from her scowl, she had imagined exactly what he had. “If Cinder even hints of betrayal, I will kill her without hesitation. But I thought you would prefer mercy.”

“I would, I do! I just… Phaw!” She blew air out of her lips suddenly and sighed, shaking her head weakly. “I guess I just want to be petty against her for what she did.”

“I didn’t know you were so close to Emilia…”

“I liked her, but I wasn’t. Not really, I mean. What she did to Emilia was awful, but… I care more about you than her.” She smiled gently and gave him a look, eyebrows raised until he figured out what she meant. Why she was so angry about what happened.

Because of what it had done to him, what she’d seen it doing to him.

“I love you, Ruby.” He murmured finally, reaching out and pulling the surprised, squeaking girl into a hug. 

“Don’t just say that so suddenly, Jaune…” She whined, earning a laugh from him and then a grunt as her foot sought out his shin and banged against it. Armor or no, he knew better than to not at least pretend it hurt. After that, she relaxed against him, took a deep breath, and breathed out, “Love you too, Jaune.”

“I’m about to march to war.” He answered gently, hating to break the moment but needing her advice. More than anything, in fact, he needed her advice. “Cinder will tell us where to go, and I and my Minions will launch an attack on the White Fang. I’m going to offer your team a place there, but…”

“It’s dangerous?”

“Yeah…”

“Take Blake with you, then. The rest of us can keep back, keep the Grimm at bay. You know, do the Huntress thing.” Ruby suggested, pulling away from him and stretching, arms over her her head and back bending backwards. He turned away to avoid ogling her, watching the preparations until she spoke again, sounding miffed for some reason he couldn’t place. “Blake said you two got into a fight?”

“I had Ilia brought to me outside Ansel, I needed her help on something. There was a climb I couldn’t make, she made it for me.” Ruby nodded at the, admittedly vague, explanation and he moved on with a tired sigh. “No one told Blake, though, and, well… When I got back, she put a gun in my face before I could bring Ilia through with the Minions.”

“I’m sorry, she… What? She put a gun in your face?” He nodded unsurely and, after a moment’s hesitation, her two bright silver eyes blinked slowly. Returning his nod she smiled stiffly and chewed on her lip, “Uh huh… Okay, I’ll be… I’ll be right back. Okay? Just wait here.”

“Uh, why would I…”

She was moving before he could finish, crossing the room and dancing between Minions setting the room like they had for dinner days prior. A good enough setting, Gnarl had said, for a meeting with what amounted for his friends and advisors, young and idealistic or not. Slowly, unsurely, he followed her until he realized where she was headed. 

To the end of the table, where the two teams were standing.

“This looks rather promising…” Gnarl muttered at his knee, looking up when his Overlord looked down at him and cackling. “Well, master, our mistress appears irate. You couldn’t have, maybe, told her about a certain someone threatening you?”

“It wasn’t that big a-”

A loud, echoing crack echoed across the room en her turned towards it, watching Blake stagger back and clutch her cheek. Yang caught her, of course, and turned to shield her on instinct while Weiss and his team watched on with wide eyes. A silence stretched across the room while everyone processed what had happened, and in that silence many things happened at once. Minions dragged those not involved directly back and moved in front of them like a shield, others still clutched weapons - and in one case, a stool - readily, and Jaune lumbered towards the group as fast as he could.

Ruby spoke before he got there, and opened the floodgates with her words.

“You put a gun in my boyfriend’s face?!”

“I-I didn’t mean-”

“Ruby Rose!” Yang hissed, pushing Blake into Weiss’ stunned, waiting hold and moving close enough to the young Rose’s face that they could have kissed. Ruby met her stare and set her jaw, Minions behind her clutching halberds unsurely. “Why did you do that?”

“She put a gun in Jaune’s face!”

“Did you?” The blonde turned to her partner and, weakly and surprised still, she nodded. Yang at least paused at that, for a moment, before she backed down from her sister slightly and asked, “Why?”

“Because she thought I’d done something to her friend, Yang. She panicked, and I resolved it, but Ruby is… Well, understandably angry.” He called out, striding forward through the anxious Minions and waving a hand to command them to stand down. The creatures didn’t hesitate for a moment, parting before him and, mostly, returning to work on setting up the room. Stepping between the seven of them, now that the Minions weren’t holding his other guest team at bay, he gave Ruby a look, “Thank you for standing up for me, but Blake and I have had this out already.”

“Right.” Blake nodded, pushing out of Weiss’ grip and offering Ruby a nod. The furious young woman nodded understandingly, and Blake went on, explaining, “I came through early, to see Ilia like normal. I asked a Worker-Minion where she was and it… Snickered, like it thought something was funny. And given his feelings for the White Fang…”

“She jumped to conclusions.” Jaune offered as support, laying a heavy hand on the steaming woman’s shoulder. Ruby met his eyes, knowing by now where they were even with the helmet on, and he finished, “I won’t ask you to apologize. But say your piece and we all move on afterwards. Everyone good with that?”

“I am.”

“Sure.”

“...Fine.” Ruby murmured, pointing a single finger at Blake, “Never point a gun at my Jaune again. Ever. He does something you don’t like, you come to me and we talk about it. If it’s that bad, I will talk to him for you. Got it?”

“Y-Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good.” Ruby nodded in answer, grimacing and sighing as her shoulders fell and she flushed. “And I’m… Sorry I hit you. It was just instinct, or a reaction I guess, but I shouldn’t have done it either way, I just… Got angry, I dunno why I reacted that way.” She offered a stiff hug to the Faunus and grimaced, “Friends?”

“Yeah, of course. But, ah, a hug isn’t actually-” The Faunus nodded, but her smile vanished as Ruby stepped in and forced a hug on her. The Faunus wasn’t the most physical of people, and it showed, the woman stiffening in Ruby’s grip while she turned to Yang and, desperate, mouthed, “Help. Me. Please!”

“Nah, this is punishment for threatening Ruby’s boyfriend.” Yang shrugged off, crossing her arms and grinning, “Don’t worry, I’ll give her a whooping for it later. Or maybe Jaune will.”

“Yaaaaaang!” Ruby whined, releasing her prey and rounding on the blonde with a hail of playful blows. The blonde laughed and turned, letting them rattle against her side while everyone watched on.

“Everyone, grab a seat, please. I need to talk about a few things, get you all up to speed.” Jaune ordered with a laugh, glad the sudden tenseness had been broken. Ruby’s aggression was something he was worried about, but it was also something to deal with later on.

Preferably when a war with the White Fang was more or less off the table.

“I must say, I didn’t think she had it in her. She seems way too… Sweet and kind, really, for that sort of thing.” He turned at Cinder’s voice and the woman, newly dressed in a fur dress and looking far more comfortable for it, bowed her head respectfully. “I spoke to Gnarl, as you ordered, Lordship.”

“And?” This he directed to the Head-Minion on his other side, speaking quietly and moving towards his throne. 

“An old spell, but one I remembered luckily, Master.” The creature said in response, the creature produced a trio of simple copper rings and held them up to him. He took them, looking them over in his palm, and Gnarl explained. “Simply push some of your Mana into them, and hand one to the harlot. She can then see her children get the others, and they are bound.”

“Bound how?”

“A simple loyalty seal, that is all. It will force them to obey commands, save when they believe that it would be better for you to disobey you.” The Minion explained as he sat and checked to be sure no one heard what they were saying. The last thing he wanted were fears of mind control, after all, and though he caught a long look from Pyrrha the woman quickly turned away and smiled at a question from Weiss. “The later is rare but, on the off chance it is something important, I included the loophole.”

“I don’t like it…”

“I do.” It was Cinder, surprisingly, who spoke up then with a small smile and a raised brow. “Better than having you glaring at me constantly. Why would I balk at something that enforces what I already intended to do?”

“And your, er, kids?” The term felt weird, but it was the best fit he had for the duo at the moment. “What will they think?”

“Emerald will do whatever I ask, the love sick little fool that she is, and be thankful simply to have me around. Mercury will… Obey.” The latter part of her answer was less than thrilling, if he was honest, but he let it go. With the rings, he wouldn’t need to worry about Mercury’s loyalty, after all, even if he didn’t really like the taste of the idea. So with a flush of Mana, he handed them to the woman, who nodded and, after a brief moment of consideration, slid it onto her hand and sighed. “There is… Another matter that needs tending, Lord.”

“Can it wait?”

“No, I’m afraid.” She answered simply, holding out her left arm and scowling. “My hand is not mine, you understand. I sacrificed it for a spell that would allow me to steal away magic from others. A spell of Salem’s creation.”

“Such spells carry… Advantages, for the bearer of them, your Most Evilness.” Gnarl explained quietly, in a low and rushed tone. “It is likely that, if Salem were to wish it so, she could harm young Cinder through it. Or perhaps do worse, like control her. It will need to, well… Be removed.”

“And you are alright with this?” He asked, giving the woman a look and earning a grimace for it.

“If the ring didn’t sell my loyalty, then I suppose a sacrifice of a hand will do so. A wretched, Grimmling hand, true, but a hand nonetheless.” She shrugged simply, seeming miffed but largely unfazed by the suggestion. 

An odd thing not to be concerned over, he thought, but then again it seemed like she didn’t think of it as her hand anymore, so maybe it wasn’t that big a deal.

“We have to wait until after the meeting to deal with it regardless.” He sighed, “Once this is done, Gnarl, take her to Giblet. Order him to take the arm off just below the elbow as safely as he can. Gather Blues, too, to heal her swiftly.”

“If I may, Master, I… Actually have a suggestion for how to handle this.” He hummed in thought and the woman grimaced, nodding her head and beginning to explain, “Well, you must sell this to your allies, so…”

Patiently, he listened to her suggestion.

“So you… Just forgave her, then?” Weiss asked once he’d explained Cinder’s change in loyalties, and the basic gist of her fear of Salem that had motivated it. 

The woman sat across the table from his throne directly, looking up into his face, with Juniper and Ruby, sans Ruby herself of course, to one side side and Ozpin, Qrow and Goodwitch on her other. In front of them sat Cinder and her own group, with a small booster seat in a chair to accommodate Gnarl’s far smaller frame. One had been offered to Neo, too, sitting next to Ruby, but the girl had scowled at the suggestion and assured him she didn't need one. 

Instead, she sat on a thick pillow she’d brought along, and snickered at Qrow’s pouting.

“Forgiveness implies she’s getting off with no penalties, and is free to go where she wishes and when she wishes to.” He explained simply, gesturing at the older woman dismissively. “She is very much not. Cinder?”

“In trade for my life, I’m essentially a prisoner for life, serving his interests. A death sentence converted to a life one outside the clutches of those… Fucking spiders is a sentence I am more than willing to accept.” The note of derision, fear and revulsion was omnipresent, and earned a petulant smile no one could see from the Overlord. Swallowing nervously, she turned to look at him and went on, “Alongside my information, and the power I have both magical and otherwise, I have a… Proof to offer.”

“Indeed you do.” He nodded to the woman, turning to his Head-Minion and giving him an even more firm nod. “Gnarl?”

“Yes, Lordship. Bring it out, you lazy gits!” The bark had several Minions emerge from the door leading down and out to the courtyard, carrying a wooden stump with them. 

The group watched them bring it out and lay it on the ground at the foot of the steps, where Cinder knelt and laid her arm out, reaching out to pull the glove free. Instead of the normal Human hand they all expected, he saw a clawed black thing taking up the greater part of her forearm. Not a single person in that room reacted well, Ozpin even standing so sharply his chair clattered across the stone behind him. Consideringly, she curled and uncurled her dark Grimm fingers, before laying it out on the stump in front of her and leaning back on the steps while they all watched and Jaune stood.

“Cinder approached me and told me of this thing Salem gave to her.” Jaune explained, hefting his halberd in his hand and laying it across his shoulders as he stepped down towards her. Finally, towering over her, he finished in the triumphant gesture she’d suggested it would be. “To show to you all she is serious, she’s willing to give up something that is a precious part of her, and her source of the ability to steal Maiden powers like Ozpin doubtless fears.”

“It is a concern, yes…” 

“Not anymore, it isn’t.” He grunted simply, giving her a look and asking gently, “Are you ready?”

“As I shall ever be…”

“Then brace yourself.” He ordered, lifting the axe overhead and waiting there for a moment. A moment he needed to aim, right for the juncture between her forearm and upper arm. Taking a breath, he brought the weapon down, and tried as hard as he could not to enjoy the petty revenge of it. 

“Ahaaaaah, fuck!” The woman howled, leaping away from the limb and clutching her arm as she rolled on the floor. A trio of Blue-Minions were on her in seconds at a barked order from their Overlord, and Emerald was a moment later, peeling back her hand and murmuring comforting words while the Minions worked on mending the bleeding stump.

“Take her to quarters she can rest in, and see she’s fed and given something to drink.” He ordered, letting Emerald and Mercury help her to her feet once the bleeding had been magically stopped. The Minions assigned to care for her followed, along with the six Guard-Minions assigned to guard them. “I hope you are satisfied now, everyone. Because I am. She volunteered a limb to prove her worth, so if her information holds up, it’s a settled matter to me.”

The loyalty ring of coursed helped with that, but they didn’t need to know about it, and even without it he was tempted to trust her.

“I’ll never be comfortable working with her, not after Amber, but…” Ozpin sighed and sat, his chair rising of its own accord at Glynda’s behest, and then leaned his elbows on the carved stone of the table. After a moment, he took a breath and nodded, “I’ll let her be. Giving an arm is a lot, and if that is the source of her Maiden stealing power, then I am satisfied. Not happy, but satisfied.”

“Thank you.” He nodded, turning to look at Gnarl and asking, “Now, our plans for the White Fang?”

“They are camped out in a mountain hideout north of Mistral’s walls, some seven miles away in fact.” The creature answered, stepping forward to take prominence while Jaune sat back on his throne and listened. “The topography for the surrounding regions is the norm for the area, and the hideout is fortified within a mountain. Tunneled out from the back of a natural cave formation.”

“All the better to hide without looking like they were hiding.” Qrow nodded, offering what insight he had. “Head into a cave, start digging at the back, and you’ve got a hidden entrance. Faunus can see in the dark, so you don’t post guards outside like normal and, well…”

“Sounds like a cartoon villain hideout…” Ruby murmured absently, before sighing and asking, “How do we hit it?”

“I want you Hunter-Trainees in the woods, keeping the Grimm at bay. I can give you Minions to help, if you need, but I need as much in there as possible.” The last thing any of them needed was the Grimm coming in, drawn by the emotions of the Faunus he was fighting. And he didn’t need to explain that to them, the lot of them more than aware of it. “Inside, I need as many Hunters as possible. I’m powerful, but… They have guns.”

“I’m with you.” There was no hesitation in Qrow’s voice, not even a moment to think and consider the price he might pay. 

“Cinder has volunteered herself, if she is able, and her team as well besides that.” He added, giving the man a surprised but respectful, thankful nod. “The two of them are trained, and will come with me even if Cinder herself is unable.” 

“Losing an arm tends to get in the way of such things, my Lo- Ow!” Gnarl recoiled, as a spoon sailed across the room and thwacked against his head. A courtesy of Ruby, who smiled and reached for a replacement that a snickering Green offered her. “Mistress Ruby, please refrain from projectile combat.”

“Yeah, Sis, you can’t fight in here. This is the War Room- Motherfucker!” She recoiled, back instead of to the side as Weiss and Blake both slammed elbows into her ribs. Rubbing her side, she pouted and sat back, murmuring, “Dicks… Anyway, I’m in. Fighting Grimm is my job, and besides, I’m sure Ruby is going.”

“Yep.”

“So I’m going.” And Blake beside her was a given, with her… Situation.

“Ours as well, of course, Jaune.” Pyrrha nodded, offering him a small, weak and apologetic smile. Beside her, Nora moved her hand to Pyrrha’s arm in a comforting gesture, and the woman went on, “I- We, I mean, we lost you once, because we weren’t beside you. Weren’t able to protect you, as a team ought.”

“Now, we can defend you against Grimm like we should have done.” Ren finished for her, nodding firmly, “You have us on your side as well. Like Pyrrha said.”

“And my help as well.” Ozpin offered, surprising everyone in the room including the headmistress beside him who blinked and turned to him in a clear question. The man chuckled at it, and their collective surprise, and explained, “The White Fang are terrorists, Mister Arc. I may have reservations about you, but… My prejudices should not compromise my judgements, as I have been reminded today.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“If I may make a couple suggestions as well?” He nodded and Ozpin smiled in gratitude, fishing his Scroll out from his pocket. Holding it up for him to see, the man explained, “James will be interested to hear your plans. And while he can’t bring his military to bear directly, he can come himself. Along with Winter Schnee, his bodyguard, or one of them. Further, he would likely be willing to trade credit for the defeat and arrest of Sienna Khan, or her death even, for Roman Torchwick.”

That name had Neo sitting up straighter, turning to him with wide eyes and a pleading, puppy dog lip waver that practically screamed, “Please.”

“Master, it would also allow us a convenient scapegoat for the matter.” Gnarl pointed out, the Overlord turning to him. “We eliminate the Fang to earn your revenge, get a valued ally released to our service in the form of Torchwick, secure his daughter’s loyalties for an added point of concreteness, Beacon and Atlas could even provide drone-piloted transport to get us safely and quietly there… It’s a perfect deal.”

“Not to mention Irondick is handy in a fight.” Qrow remarked dryly, adding when Weiss rounded on Ruby, who then shot the man a pointed look, “And his pet Schnee is pretty serviceable too, ‘least against goons like what’ll be there. And maybe Jimmy can toss some drones for us, too. Disposable, memories that can get deleted, that kind of thing.”

“Two teams of trainees holding against the Grimm, and seven Hunters counting Neo in the base helping me and my army eradicate it. Assuming you’re on board- Don’t nod so fast, geez.” The psychopathic murder loli was practically frothing at the mouth at an opportunity to get into a fight, and it was kind of scary. Regardless, he asked, “Does that sound like a plan to everyone?”

They all nodded, or murmured their agreement, and he stood to command, “Then I would suggest dinner for us all. Tonight, my Minions will prepare for battle. Tomorrow, we will move our forces to Mistral. And then, finally, justice.”

The youngest among them cheered, and he saw even Blake smile, though he was sure that was mostly for the fact that soon this whole debacle would be over. Ozpin said nothing, of course, too busy typing away on his Scroll and then standing to look for somewhere quiet to make a call on it. So, with a snap of his fingers, he ordered his Minions to bring food and drinks for everyone.

Finally, he would see heads roll for what had been done to his people.

XxX----XxX----XxX

Johny Spectre :

Maybe, once I tie up the Fang end of things. Intending that to happen reeeelatively shortly. 

Zen-Aku :

Yeah, he’s adjusted to it, kind of. We all adjust to things good and bad, and it’s not like he was scared Blake would actually shoot him. At this point, she needs him and he knows that, so he knows she wouldn’t actually kill him. 

Guestinator :

Except that in most of these cases, the threats are sensible, and he can’t DO anything about them. Ozpin, for instance, has every reason to not trust an Overlord and to threaten him, as he has directly fought them. Tai does it too, at one point, because the dude is dating his youngest daughter. 

Here, Blake does it because she worried he had LITERALLY KILLED HER FRIEND, after giving his word not to, in a situation where she ONLY trusts him on his word. She has no evidence beyond trusting that which tells her he won’t just massacre or enslave the Faunus he goes up against.

And considering he is putting his prisoners to work, AND she has seen his tendency to relish the killing aspect of a fight, she DOES have evidence he WOULD NOT keep those promises.

So try and see the nuance in the issue, I suggest.

Zenith Tempest :

Even were it the case, only Gnarl or Gnarl’s records would know. Every story told has detailed the Overlords being killed in this story, though.


	38. If you Go Out to the Woods Today...

XxX----XxX----XxX

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“I’m… Going to need you to start from the beginning.” Ironwood murmured, head already aching to match the juncture between his chest and where his prosthetic began. Idly, he reached into a drawer of his heavy, iron desk and drew out a little black flask, adding some of the ‘medicinal’ contents to his Atlesian Black. “You want me to use my position as an Atlesian Councilor to essentially force a land cession to the Overlord, to give him official space here on Mantel.”

“Yes, in conjunction with Roman Torchwick being released into ‘rehabilitative work treatment’ under his authority.” Ozpin nodded, voice and face somewhat laced in static from where he was. “Honestly, you- Blast it, I can’t see you any longer. Are you still there? Or did I lose connection again? Damn fancy new technology...”

“I am here, though I have lost visual too.” He sighed and rolled his eyes, “You’re too far from the network, and there’s a storm between us. It can’t be helped.”

“Back in my day, we used mirrors for this…” Ozpin groused, sounding every iota the old man. “Magic is something I miss dearly, in times like these. Communication at extreme ranges, so long as one had a competent mage to facilitate it.”

Ironically, he was physically closer to Ironwood himself than he would have been at Beacon, so the ‘extreme range’ wasn’t an issue. But sadly, the CCT system hadn’t been expanded along the western part of the continent since there were no major settlements. So proximity or not, the man’s connection was weak. And no doubt complicated by a blizzard he knew was washing over a large part of the area. Which was quite literally freezing the Tower out of communications. 

“Honestly, you have already agreed to the second half, regarding Torchwick, in exchange for aid against the Fang. This, I would spin for aid against Salem, when I offered it to him.” Ozpin argued, face still gone and voice echoing of resignation now. “He has already by and large aligned against her, but…”

“But you would prefer him in our little cabal.” Ironwood guess, and then smirked when he heard Ozpin sigh.

“I hate that you call it that…” The man complained, “We are hardly some shadowy cabal, James.”

“We are, quite literally by the by, an organization of government officials, academy instructors and supposedly freelance Hunters who meet in secret and decide the fate of our planet. With, I add, neither the knowledge or consent of the citizenry whose lives are shaped, and oft ended, by our decisions.” He argued simply, the words stated as matter of factly as he could manage while a droid refilled his cup to the brim with steaming coffee. “Am I in any way incorrect, my very old friend?”

“...No.”

“What”, he paused to dramatically take a loud sip, like a villain to sell his point, “would you call something like that?”

“I would… Call it… A cabal…” The man admitted finally, sounding as though he was agreeing to genocide. Or having his teeth pulled. Or something else painful and detestable as either of those things. “I despise you, sometimes, James. Utterly and completely. I hope you are quite aware of that.”

“Oh, I am. Don’t you worry about that.” The ancient demi-god, for that was what he considered Ozpin to be with all his magic and his immortality, was half serious with the remark. “You and I butt heads often enough, we may as well be enemies. Maybe in another life, which is something you’d know about, hah.”

And he knew as much. Ironwood was too military a man, and Ozpin too irregular and liquid in personality, for there to be no animosity between them. But they were, both of them, adult enough to ignore their opposing ideas of problem solving to work together against bigger threats. 

Namely, Salem, and on that topic…

“Assume I agree to use my political influence to get this favor for Jaune… I would need to negotiate what, precisely, he would get.” But Ozpin knew that already, of course, even if he felt it was something he needed to say regardless. If only because Oz would definitely push the advantage not doing so would give him. “Further, what guarantee do you have that he will agree to ally against Salem? I though he wished to be neutral in our conflict.”

“He did, but now he’s stolen away the Maiden from her, Salem won’t allow that. So while I don’t quite trust him, the same could be said for anyone around me.” That, at least, Ironwood could agree on whole-heartedly. Even if the second part of Ozpin’s response irked him, as always. “Once she realizes that, assuming she hasn’t already, it is likely if not definite that she will declare herself his enemy.”

“And so force his hand.” Ironwood nodded, “I’m sure he’s used to that by now.”

“And probably hates it, as well.” Ozpin sighed, somehow seeming to both know the feeling and not care about the Overlord feeling it at the same time. “An unfortunate turn of tides, this has all been. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make progress through it.”

“I suppose not.”

“Then you agree?”

“I will… Sell the land to him through his stone-cutting contact, and officially cede it once the operation against the Fang is completed.” The former could be done immediately, of course. The later, though… “To give him autonomy like that is almost unprecedented. I’d need a guarantee of alliance between his fledgling nation and Atlas to make it work. I can’t very well expose Salem to the world as part of the benefits, after all.”

“Of course not.” His ally laughed at the mere notion, as though honesty were the most laughable thing in the world. Though maybe that was uncharitable on Ironwood’s part, he supposed. “The White Fang is what he buys the land with. And I would suggest you pitch his autonomy as a sort of… Automation of regional protection, where Atlas doesn’t have men or interests but you want to open future expansions.”

“Like the old city-states and their forward puppets?” The man asked, “I doubt the Overlord would like being a puppet.”

“Which is why he won’t be. I made an analogy, I don’t expect us to adopt feudal systems from before record keeping was even par enough to know how often that sort of tactic succeeded.” He knew what the man meant. The ancient records were spotty about it all, but hundreds of such settlements were set up, expected to maintain themselves, and summarily wiped out. Or assumed to be, given they were simply not mentioned again. “Spin the Minions as a Semblance creating them, the Schnee can summon creatures after all, and the area as too far flung to reasonably protect. An effort to secure the homeland from a side that’s neglected as of not.”

“Stoking the nationalists are we?”

“Of course. They are useful puppets, if you know how to play with them to make them dance to your string plucks.” He wanted to defend them, naturally, being Atlesian citizens. But… He’d done the and thought much the same, time and time again, so he couldn’t. “It’s a convenient response, and a truthful one for the most part.”

“Indeed it is.” He could use it, at the very least. Some spin and it would be fine. “I’ll hold an emergency video-session, per Atlesian security protocols. I hold two votes, and one of the Councilors bandies to the nationalists as it is, so it should be an easy vote.”

“Then you will be there when we planned to attack?”

“Day after tomorrow, correct?”

“Yes.” Ozpin answered, “I will be there, alongside Qrow. The two young teams will be handling anti-Grimm security, as I said. And if you bring Torchwick…”

“He and his daughter will make five of us, or so, backing up the Overlord’s assault.” He answered, recalling the plan they’d discussed easily and readily. “I confess, I would prefer a military strike team…”

“He demands to be personally, intimately involved in the attack. And if your soldiers see tiny gremlins crawling around…”

“I would have them briefed, to remove the problem entirely.” He argued, more to argue the point itself than to change plans. In the eleventh hour, you didn’t change plans, unless not doing so was a death sentence. “Forget it. What was done with Miss Fall then? You mentioned she was a resolved situation.”

“No, I mentioned that the ticking bomb that she was had been disarmed.” Ozpin corrected him, the smarminess practically echoing through his voice. Enough so that Ironwood could see the look on his face, video line down or not. “And I meant that literally, too, as a matter of fact.”

“You meant it…” He sighed and shook his head, “You son-of-a-bitch, I’m the one that is supposed to make amputee jokes. We agreed on this years ago!”

Ozpin only laughed and, after a moment, Ironwood ended the call and sighed as he pulled his little flask out again. This time, though, he took a swig from it directly and then turned to his drone. “Contact Specialist Weiss Schnee, and order her to see me immediately. I have a priority one assignment for her and her alone. She’s to make her excuses as needed and leave whatever duties she is seeing to, on my authority.”

“Acknowledged.” The machine responded simply, the only words he needed to know the job was done. 

Now, he had a long brief for himself, and then a scant few hours sleep between that and duties come morning. Such was the military life, though. As much as he absolutely hated that particular part of the whole deal.

XxX----XxX----XxX

“You don’t need to do this, you know, Master.” Gnarl spoke as the duo walked, climbing down the stairs that led down to the courtyard and the ringing rooms that surrounded it. He didn’t respond, and Gnarl grimaced sourly. “You should rest instead, Lord. Not go and see the wicked witch of the infirmary. Especially without a weapon.”

“She’s recovering from an amputation I used for theater.” And as good as it had felt, he couldn’t help but feel at least tertiary sympathy for the woman. Or rather, a tiny little spark of one that he couldn’t quite drown, no matter how long he held it under the water. “She’s not a threat to me. Even if she were, I could just teleport to my axe upstairs.”

“But her little litter of lamentable losers, Master…”

“Okay, one, they have the same answer Cinder does. I can teleport away.” Jaune answered turning to look down on the creature as they reached the gate out into the dark, night-time courtyard. “Two, and yes I have to ask even though I know your answer will be fucking insane... Alliteration? Why?”

“I did nothing on purpose, Master.” The creature shrugged, grinning in that off, annoying way he did that told Jaune he had very much meant to be an annoyance. Apparently he heard something coming, because his ears flicked behind them at a corner and the creature smiled, “And I would love to bandy back and forward, me snarking and you threatening my life like always, but I hear someone coming.”

“Of course there is, right when I want to give you shit...” He sighed, resisting the urge to smack the creature and following its gaze. Qrow rounded a far corner and blinked at seeing him seemingly waiting for him, before he offered a small wave and Jaune called out, “Why are you up and about? We start moving forces tomorrow. You should be resting.”

“So should you.” The man countered as he joined them, scratching the stubble on his chin idly. “Carryin’ a message from Oz, he’s resting up and I’m about to join him. Ironwood is on board, but there’s more.”

“More?”

“Fighting Salem related more.” He nodded, holding up a hand when Jaune made to respond to that. Made to argue against it, more like. Regardless, he held his tongue and gave the man a nod to speak, before Jaune reacted in earnest. “Oz had a good point. You stole the Fall Maiden out from under her, and that’s as good as declaring war already.”

“That isn’t the intention…” But, he knew, it was likely to be the result. More power for him, and a direct line to the Fang as well, was something he couldn’t have refused. “I see the point, though. Salem won’t easily let that go, I guess.”

“Not a chance in hell, but I’d bet you knew that before you accepted her offer.” Qrow didn’t bother to point out that, further, Ruby would have never tolerated even ignoring her. She was a Huntress, born and bred, after all. “But that’s why Oz is putting out the idea of you working with us.

“So Ozpin wants me to work for him then?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms to make clear his opinions on that particular notion. 

“With, not for. An alliance, not subservience to him, in his own words. And comes with some sweetener in the pot, too.” Qrow explained, sighing and then adding in a tired voice, “I can give you the gist of it, since it has to be dealt with after all this noise with the Fang, or you can go grill Oz for it. But he’ll probably say the same thing I’m about to.”

“Just give me the gist, then. I can tell you’re tired.” Ozpin would be evasive and tired, and he trusted Qrow’s words for Ruby’s trust in them. At least enough to not wholly misrepresent something like what Oz would be suggesting for him, which would hold a great chance of hurting Ruby. 

“Ironwood is going to let you take ownership of a bunch of land along the coast, in an official sense.” The man explained, “You’d still be a protectorate on paper, but as far as they’d care? You’d be a little coastal nation all on your own, and the Minions would be excused as some kind of… Summoning Semblance.”

“And my magic?” He asked, frankly flabbergasted by the sudden offer of so much influence. 

“Dust can do wonderful things.” Qrow shrugged simply, too tired to really think on the issue too much. Or simply apathetic, and sure that it wasn’t his job to figure it out. “I’m sure your little Schnee friend can come up with some silly Dust technique excuses. And I mean, hell, the Schnee themselves summon all kinds of bullshit with their Semblance.”

“Official recognition of our claim to land, and official backing in a deception to allow you to operate more openly… It’s a good offer.” The creature beside him murmured, asking after a moment, “Are you aware of any plans to, say, launch an insane and pointless crusade made up of children against Salem, the queen of the Grimm? Before we sign on, it’s good to ask, I hope you understand.”

“Not that I know of, no. Ozpin isn’t ready to actually try and wipe Salem out, she… Has too much.” Qrow blinked at something that Jaune didn’t understand, and then grimaced as a thought occurred. But he didn’t explain it for whatever reason, and instead offered a small sigh. “I’ll let him know you aren’t signing up for any suicide missions or anything.”

“The status of Overlord is inheritable as well, so his children can take up the Mantle if and when he leaves us to laze about in a tomb.” Gnarl mentioned, while Jaune fought the urge to ask how being dead could in any way be construed as being lazy. No doubt, the little monster had some leap of logic for it. “Regardless, the details of that will need to be settled after we indulge your raging, black armored murder boner in Mistral.”

“Gnarl...”

“Don’t worry, Master.” The Minion gave his leg a gentle, conciliatory and comforting pat and smiled toothily. “What happens in Mistral stays in Mistral. Especially if what happens is mass murder and devastation, since no one would be around to talk about it. Now if only they were self cleaning, too...”

“Go get some rest, and let Ozpin know I’m not signing on to anything until we can sit down for it, obviously. But that I’m open to sitting down and hashing it out after this is over.” He wouldn’t be considering things in the eleventh hour either way, and this was certainly that. Instead, he offered the older man a nod and a smile, and simply said, “Good night, Qrow. Hope you sleep well.”

“You too, blondie. And have a nice sleep alone.” He added, pointing two fingers to his own eyes and then at Jaune threateningly. The blonde blinked, and would have asked about it, but the man was gone before he could.

“Gnarl?”

“Yes?”

“Did he just… Threaten me?”

“I believe so.” The Minion nodded simply, smiling all the while. “I wouldn’t worry over it. Rather, I would encourage you to get some rest. I’ll look in on our rather disarmed conscript and let you know come the morn if she will be able to accompany us into combat.”

“...Fine.” He sighed, turning and heading back up to his room to get the sleep he’d been suggested. 

Gnarl could handle checking on the woman, after all.

XxX----XxX----XxX

In the room granted to the children and their mistress, he was met with tired glares and entirely deserved suspicious glances. The two youngsters had laid out blankets, furs and silk sheets in piles to sleep on in either corner to either side of the door. Silk sheets, he noted, that the young woman in her red dress did not have on her bed. Even though they all came with them, meaning the woman had removed the well-woven and comfortable spider-silk sheets before laying down. Was she truly so afraid of the cute little spiders that she would refuse even what they made?

Apparently, and amusingly, so.

“What do you want?” The green-haired little snot, Emerald, asked from her spot on the corner. Idly, a hand lashed out to fold the corner of her page and mark it for later, the other sliding under the fur behind her and no doubt grabbing some weapon. “We’re resting for tomorrow, with Cinder. So if you need something, it can wait until then.”

Really, he was more irked by the abuse of books than the threat.

“Leave it be, Emerald.” Cinder ordered tiredly, sounding for once cowed and weak after her ordeal. With a grunt, the woman pushed back on the bed and sat up on her pillows, looking down on the Minion with a pale face and pursed lips. “Please do be swift, though. As you can tell, I am not exactly in the best of spirits.”

“Oh yes, you’ve been thoroughly disarmed, as we all can see.” Her glare intensified and he snickered, then tilted his head to the side in consideration and asked, “Or, given what that hand looked like, would declawed work better?”

“Just tell me what you want.” The woman asked, visibly straining to contain her agitation. Something he was quite sure, judging from her past, she was simultaneously used to and built against. An amusing contradiction. “I need rest. Believe it or not, shock and blood loss are exhausting things to go through.”

“Our master sent me to ask after your health, of course.”

“He did?” She asked, her brows raising at the idea in clear shock. 

“Oh, but of course, young miss.” He nodded, smiling that toothy, feral smile he couldn’t contain when he was having his fun. The woman’s eyes narrowed in response and he grinned ever wider, “After all, what use is a tool if it’s broken? Or a toy, if it can’t be toyed with?”

“Cinder isn’t a-”

“Emerald, be silent. Please, do not argue this, my… My child.” The last was added as the woman, young but defiant and still shaken by fear of what she’d almost lost, turned to her to argue. Taken aback, either by the words or how she said them, both of which reeked of manipulation to Gnarl’s ears, the green-haired woman relented and Cinder turned back to him. “If you’re asking whether I can participate in the battle against the Fang, I… Do not know.”

“It would be a great failure if you could not.” And failure was a threat to her sense of security, he could see a spark of old fear at the words. “Are you quite certain? To be unable to fight is… A great failing for a woman who serves our Overlord. Surely you must understand that much already, though.”

“I do, but were I to fight in a weakened state, I could fail in a far more spectacular fashion.” And endanger others, though she didn’t say as much. Gnarl caught the words and grimaced, and the woman took it as agreement. “Emerald and Mercury, however, will fight on my behalf. Together, they shall have to strive to make up for my not being present.”

“We’ll tear them apart.” Emerald promised, looking to her male partner, lazing on the floor with his legs propped up. After a moment, she scowled and hissed, “Mercury, say something, you ass!”

“He already knows we’re going to kick some ass, he doesn’t need me treating him like an idiot.” The young man shrugged, earning a small snort of derision and amusement in equal measure from the Head Minion. 

“I suppose I do…” And the answers had been so easily given, too. He’d not even had much time to heckle them for it. 

“You have your answers, then. So now please, leave me be. I need to rest.” He sorely, sorely wanted to stay and put her in her place, but it was getting late. Without another word, she rolled onto her side and away from him, content to go to sleep and ignoring his presence.

Mutely, the creature shrugged and turned to leave, simultaneously content and aggravated. Content to have had his questions answered, and a concise response for his Lord, of course. But aggravated at how easy it had been to get it, and how little room there’d been for barbing and derision. Or, well, how little space there was for it that wouldn’t have him struck by that blasted iron spoon. 

Damn Mistress Rose and Giblet both for making the accursed thing...

XxX----XxX----XxX

“Come in, Gnarl.” He grunted before the creature could announce itself, sitting on a low stone stool beside his fireplace, his hands working a rag along the grip of his axe. 

Behind him on an armor stand he’d ‘borrowed’ from the smithy, his armor hung, shined to perfection by his somewhat neurotic cleanings. The creature shuffled in somewhat awkwardly, a small grimace and grumble at being called out before he could make another of his overly theatrical, grandiose entrances. But seeing his Master wasn’t in any way down for dealing with that noise, the Minion closed the distance to join him at the fire quietly. 

“So, how was Cinder?” He asked, returning to cleaning the grip of his axe before moving higher on it. “Losing an arm can’t be easy to come back from. Is she resting well? Does she need anything?”

“Would you not enjoy her suffering if she were, Master?” He grimaced and the Minion nodded in understanding, knowing that part of him would. But that he didn’t like that he liked that, and so would never act on it. “You will be pleased and disquieted to know, then, that she appears to be in much pain. Her wounds were closed, so she is in no danger, of course, but pain? Of that there is plenty.”

“Good.” She deserved it still, even if he wasn’t going to take it where he wanted. She’d offered him too much for him to refuse, and he was not a liar, in spite of how easy it was to become one. “Is she going to be able to join us, though?”

“She says that she will not, unfortunately, feel confident in doing so. Too exhausted and weakened from her wound, she said.” Gnarl answered quietly, sitting to watch the fire burn in his hearth and enjoy its warmth. “And having something like that ripped out of her? Dangerous, I am sure.” 

“Mhm.” He’d considered that too, honestly, though only after he’d lopped her arm off. It had been a good, and very dramatic, show of her loyalties and his punishing her at the time, but maybe a bad time to have done it. Hindsight being what it was, though, he moved on. “It makes sense we can’t count on her after that, I suppose. Not so soon, at the very least.”

“We could punish her…”

“By what, chopping off another arm? We do that and pretty soon we’ll have a Cinder nugget, and she’ll be useless.” Even if it would be a macabre source of amusement, she’d still be useless to him all the same. And being a petty despot was overruled entirely in the face of being a good ruler. “No, she’s forgiven, even if it’s only just this once. Time is needed for her to get better after something like that, and time is what we don’t have.”

“Is it mercy or a pretty face that drives such an answer from you?” Gnarl asked, his hands shooting up in surrender when Jaune scowled at him for it. Before Jaune could speak, the creature was, explaining as best it could probably manage, “Your reasons don’t matter to me, Master. Be it genuine mercy for a potentially valuable servant, or you wanting a concubine, it is all the same to me. I exist to facilitate your desires, as always. I just need to know what they are to facilitate them, that is all.”

“...It’s mercy, then. She proved herself loyal with the sacrifice of an arm, and needs rest before she can serve me. That’s all.” Gnarl seemed to believe him, and even offered a curt and understanding nod to show it, so he turned back to cleaning his axe. “What do you think about Ozpin’s offer?”

“It is a good one, albeit one with risks. Salem, for example, is a dangerous adversary solely based on her reputation and forces.” The Grimm were an omnipresent threat, of course, and he knew she had people working for her as well. “If you take us to war, though,” Gnarl shrugged and then offered a feral sort of grin, “such is your wont and right. And besides, what kind of Minion doesn’t enjoy partaking in a little world war now and again?”

“I don’t think anyone mentioned a world war, but… I see your point.” He sighed, though, moving to the head of the axe and carefully cleaning along its edges. “I always wondered what it was like to be a king, when I used to read my fairy tales… Now I am one, or a kind of one at least, and I have to say I don’t really like.”

“Heavy lies the crown?”

“Well, the enchanted, semi-sentient armored Gauntlet, but… Yeah.” He gave the creature a look, then grimaced, and finally asked. “Why are you being so nice about this? Before now, I’d have thought you’d think anxiety like this was a bad thing.”

“Oh, it’s all rather pathetic, asinine and boring, dealing with these weak kneed little anxieties. You’re right I feel that way, of course.” Jaune rolled his eyes at the snide insults but let them go, because he knew the little creature wanted him to rise to them. The creature huffed at that but went on regardless, “But, it is… Normal for young rulers to have bouts of anxiety ahead of large decisions like these.”

“So you’ve had to deal with it often enough to be used to it.” He guessed, the Head Minion nodding at the question. “So, you think I’m doing alright then?”

“Well, to be frank, I’d say you’re slightly below par. You’ve taken too long in finding the Hives, haven’t even got ‘em all yet to boot, there was that nastiness when you got shot, you haven’t even slept with your mistress yet-”

“Gnarl!”

“All in all, though, you are alive. And such matters quite a lot more than you might think.” The creature answered, sniggering and standing after another flick of his ears. “ And speaking of mistresses…”

“Jaune?” Ruby called, peeking around the corner of his open chamber door nervously, no doubt having heard Gnarl’s voice. “I-I came to see you, but if you’re busy-”

“Actually, I just finished making my reports ahead of tomorrow, Mistress Rose.” Gnarl said, cutting her off and standing to leave. Shuffling towards her, he offered a small smile to the girl and asked, “Did you come to see our rather skittish Lord for your own anxieties or his?”

“...Both?” She answered, stepping around the corner and tugging the blanket she was using like a cape around herself snugly. “I-I mean, I’m here to make him feel better! He’s just so squishy, you know? So I get worried. And he gets sooo nervous, too. N-Not like me, haha.”

“Quite right, Mistress. I’m sure you’d never be caught nervously sneaking up to his Highness’ quarters in your favorite pair of Beowolf pajamas. Or smuggling in marshmallows for his hearth, either.” The girl flushed at the accusations and he shuffled around and past her, slipping away into the hallway and calling back, “Good night, your Lordship! Be sure to actually sleep tonight, eh?”

“Shut up, Gnarl!” He shouted after him, scowling at the derisive, mocking laugh it earned him and rolling his eyes. The creature’s laugh faded and he grimaced, sitting awkwardly back on the stool and pulling his axe across his lap awkwardly. “So… Are you going to come in and roast those marshmallows or-”

“Yep.” She flashed by him in a flurry of rose petals, kneeling by the fire and producing a bad of the little white sweets from somewhere and ripping them open with a grin. Kneeling on the floor, she gave him a smile and offered him one of the little metal forks she’d brought, “Here! You should roast one too. It’s good luck, to eat roasted marshmallows before you go off on a mission to fight someone.”

“It is?” He’d never heard that before, to say the least. 

“I mean…” She gave him a wan smile, silver eyes sparkling with firelight, and offered simply, “My mom and I used to do it. Before she passed away, I mean.”

“Oh…” Awkwardly, he laid his axe against the side of the hearth and reached out to take the little poker and marshmallow. Piercing it on the little fork, he reached out to stick it into the fire, and said, “I guess some sweets before bed won’t be too bad. Even if Yang is going to kill me for sending you back to her with a sugar high.”

“Haha, yeah. About that…” She murmured, shuffling over and leaning against his legs. Reaching out, she stuck her own marshmallow into the fire and sighed. Like she was confused, or anxious maybe, about something. “I don’t want to, you know, do anything but… I mean, unless you want to, but I’m not… You know?”

“I’m… Confused.” He answered, the girl flushing and shrinking in on herself at his words. Enough to worry him, and make him ask, “What are you talking about?”

“I want to stay with you, J-Jaune. A-And cuddle, tonight and, you know, together, I mean.” She explained, “I don’t want to do anything, though… Unless you want to, I-I mean. I just wanna… Be here, but you get a say too, you know?”

“I…” He blinked as he realized what she meant and recoiled, “N-No, I don’t want to- I mean, I do, but not… Not tonight. Not right now- Evil’s sake.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between the claws of his Gauntlet, taking a breath to calm himself after getting flustered. “I mean, I love you and you’re beautiful, Ruby. But I don’t want to do any of that yet. I mean, I do, but… For hormones, not for any good reason. I’m just not… You know…”

“Not ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Me either.” She nodded with a smile, seeming to relax with his answer. Pulling her marshmallow back, she went on while she watched it burn and blacken to a crisp. “But I wanna stay with you, still. Wake up with you, I mean. Tomorrow, we’ll be out, and tomorrow night we’ll be camping out, a-and then we have to fight the Fang, and I’m so nervous about it. So… If you don’t mind...”

“If you ask for it, and I can give it to you, it will be yours.” He answered simply, smiling and laying a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t relax, not really, but she did nod and blow out the fire on her marshmallow so she could eat it. “Uh, Ruby, it’s probably still-”

“Mmf! Hot!” She flailed and he laughed, blowing his own out and letting it cool unlike she had. Pouting at his laughing, she rounded on him and bapped him with the bag. “Don’t laugh at me!”

“But it’s funny, Ru- Mph!” He cut off as her lips pressed to his, chaste and swiftly gone when she retreated, his pilfered sweet in her hands. Scowling, he growled, “Ruby, come on, that one is mine.”

“Nope! I bought it with a kiss, so it’s mine.” She laughed, pitching it into her mouth and bouncing away while he pursued her. She tried to dance away and he caught her arm, pulling her into his chest and pressing a kiss to the side of her throat. She giggled and squirmed in his hands, “Stoooop, that tickles and- Ah, d-don’t do that, Jaune!”

“I think I want to sleep.” He murmured, picking her up and turning to do just that.

“Fine, but only sleeping! N-No neck kisses, stop it!” He nodded into her neck and let her curl up beside him, and then snuggle into his side warmly. Sighing, he relaxed and let his eyes close until he heard her murmur gently, “Love you.”

“You too, Rose.” He answered, just before finally falling asleep.

It was a good night’s sleep, better than he’d gotten to have in a long time. And in spite of his anxiety, he was happy and relaxed come morning, when he peeled Ruby’s clutching hands off him. Watching her sleep for a moment, to enjoy the sight and make sure he hadn’t disturbed her, he stood and moved to his armor to carefully put it on while she caught a little bit more sleep.

“Hey, Lover Boy, how you doin’?” Yang was on him as soon as he stepped into the throne room, strong arms wrapped around his neck threateningly. In spite of his armor, he felt a pang of fear when she smiled into his face and commented coyly, “You know, Ruby never came back last night. She snuck off to see you, and never wandered home. And some Minions carried her combat outfit upstairs just a little bit ago…”

“Y-Yeah?”

“You two better not have done anything naughty. If you did, I’d have to rip off your dick, bake it, and feed it to you!” He blanched and she laughed, slapping him on the back hard enough he could swear it dented the mail there and bounced away, waving over her shoulder, “Behave, now! And have a good day.”

The blonde plopped into a seat between her uncle and father and both gave him glares that, unsure, he laughed at and gave a wave to. Their glares hardened and he turned, climbing up to his throne while everyone finished up the food that had been set out for breakfast. A Minion carried some biscuits and fried meat up to him and he took the tray, eating while he watched everyone prepare, wake up and eat.

“My sister just messaged me, Jaune.” Weiss finally called out as Ruby stepped into the room, adjusting Crescent Rose at the back of her waist. The pale woman stood and took a breath, clearly nervous herself, before she added, “The General’s ships have arrived, and are ready to carry us to Mistral.”

“There we will need to clear out and reconnect a Portal-Shrine, after which our Master will connect it.” Gnarl nodded, following up her words with his own explanation. “The Minions will come through, and we will be ready to secure the area, while our little… Pet, Ilia, guides us to our target.”

“...‘M not a pet.” She murmured, coughing and, louder, answering, “It, um, it won’t take long. Depends on when, you know, we get to Mistral. And where on Mistral the Shrine is. And, you know… Stuff.”

“Anyone who doesn’t want to fly, stay and wait. It shouldn’t take more than a couple hours.” Jaune ordered, standing and bringing his axe back to rest across his shoulders comfortably. “How many ships did Ironwood send?”

“He and Winter are piloting one apiece, so no pilots would see any of this.” The woman answered, doing the math to answer his real question inside a few moments. “That should allow… Two teams, so eight, of us to fly there if we wish. Less, of course, means a faster flight, of course, but eight is the maximum.”

“I’ll be going. I want Ilia with me to scout, and Ruby too for the same reason.” Both offered nods and words of consent to him, the former standing while the latter simply hummed and checked on her weapon’s straps. “Tai, Qrow, can I ask either of you to come along too? I’d like some veterans along, if a fight kicks off. Scouts are well and good, but I don’t want to risk people by relying on them for a harder fight.”

“I’ll go, sure.” Tai nodded, tossing his hand into the air and rolling his neck. “Qrow?”

“Sure, whatever.”

“Neo, Roman is probably with them, so you two would round us out as much as I want.” The mute nodded, bouncing in her chair eagerly, and he laughed at the excitement there as he stood. “Then let’s move out. Everyone else, be ready for a fight. Let’s finish this, at long last, and move on.”

It would be good to finally have this all behind him… And finally, he might be willing to go and see his family again. He’d own lands, have friends, and he’d have dealt with a threat to the whole world. That, he felt, would be enough to wash away the problems behind him not going to see them immediately. And hopefully, make them understand why he’d stayed quiet and kept away from them as well.

Though part of him knew that was unlikely, to say the least.

XxX----XxX----XxX

The northern coasts of Mistral were as brutal as his along Mantle, albeit in a mildly different way. Where his were frozen beaches of sand covered in blankets of snow and ice, letting out onto the water in hazardous sheets and glacial drifts that could swallow men, Grimm and Minions whole, Anima’s were different entirely. Nothing but sheer cliffs, deep gulfs leading to rocky beaches, and sharp, hard rocks with waves smashing down onto them with all the force the ocean could muster.

He stepped out of Ironwood’s Bullhead as the engine whined and died to look down from the cliff off of one such cliff, where Tai joined him, standing with his arms crossed. “So, you and my little gem, eh? Had a… A night, did you?”

“Ask what you want to ask, Tai.” He murmured, watching the ocean contentedly. It was relaxing, and a welcome distraction to the man’s growl and scowl routine. “You were glaring daggers at me the whole flight, so please, be direct. You know I won’t lie to you, just so you can ask her and hold it over my head.”

“Fine, fine, direct it is.” The man nodded, waiting until he met his eyes to ask, quietly enough the others wouldn’t hear. “Did you and my daughter have sex last night?”

“No. We ate some marshmallows and slept. Neither of us are… Interested in that sort of thing, really.” Not right now, at least, even if his hormones disagreed and made sleeping next to a beautiful young woman a bit of an affair. Sighing, he added, “She mentioned it, actually. Wanted to know I was comfortable sleeping together but not, you know, sleeping together. She’s… A blessing.”

“Damn right on that.” He sighed, and then nodded. When he spoke next, he sounded resigned and uncomfortable, but oddly nostalgic at the same time. “I believe you, I guess. I know how it can be, though, being young and risking your lives. The adrenaline, the risk, all of that stacking up on top of hormones. Just… When she’s older, alright?”

“When we’re both older, yeah.” He agreed, feeling his age in an altogether new and unique sort of way. Or rather, feeling his lack thereof. “I guess I’m weird, but all this makes me look forward to things more. When it’s their time, though. Not like… Like I feel rushed into anything. You know?”

“Two kinds of people. The ‘don’t want to die a virgin’ types and the ones that look forward to getting there at the right time.” Tai nodded, offering a small smile and murmuring, “I was the first one and I paid for it. Be careful, alright? With her, and with yourself.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I will.” The way he said it was paternal, as usual, but the addition of Jaune to that equation was a new thing. A distinctly unique and very welcome one, too. Normally, the tone was reserved for Ruby and Yang alone, and that small change had surprised him. He shook it off quickly, though, and asked, “How do you feel about this, uh, operation? Seriously, I mean.” 

“Lot of hands involved, we have the surprise, they have the numbers…” The man shrugged and half turned to leave, adding before he did, “Sounds like a normal Hunter job to me, biggest, blackest boss. Outnumbered but on the attack is how we all live our lives and make our bread and cheddar.”

“Right.” He supposed that was true, and nodded as he turned to the others, collecting themselves and running last checks on weapons and equipment. Looking over them, he took a breath and called out, “Separate into pairs. Gnarl’s maps and records only specified a small ruin in the region, we don’t know precisely where it is. Experienced fighters with less experienced ones first, and watch out for White Fang patrols.”

“You don’t know the exact location?” Ironwood asked, sounding miffed and put off by the information. 

“The records Ozpin had were thousands of years old, General.” He shrugged simply, “All I know is that its in this region, where one can hear the sea and ‘feel the spray of salt in the water on your face’. So, probably not on the cliffs, and instead on the rocky beaches. It’ll be a ruin, like… An old temple, probably, but collapsed and maybe overgrown.” 

“Um…” Ilia, ever anxious and shy, raised her hand as though to ask permission to speak. Permission he gave with a small, curt nod. “I actually know a place like that, a few miles east of here. There’s a wall inside a cave, kind of nearby to the Fang headquarters actually.”

“Ah.” There went the partnering up and exploring, then, he supposed. “Is it defended? By Grimm or the White Fang, I mean. Either one, we’ll have to fight.”

“When I was here last, a year back and change, it was a little supply and patrol stop off point.” She answered, “The wall was sturdy, and there were no sounds, so we felt safe enough about using its cave as a resting point to keep an eye on the region around the headquarters.”

“Camps set up in caves are typical White Fang methodology, as they can see in the dark and don’t need lights or fires that would give them away.” Winter explained, for the benefit of those less experienced with fighting the White Fang. Experience an Atlesian Specialist likely had in spades. “They’ll have sentries in the woods surrounding, and shortwave communications that will alert the headquarters.”

“But we need my army, and will be attacking before they can be reinforced.” It would be a hard fight, though, if they knew they were coming and he grimaced at the knowledge. “I’ll bring through the spiders, too. We can use them and my Minions as shock infantry, and mop up behind them.”

“A wise strategy, we deploy our mechanised units in much the same way.” And Jaune was well aware of the reputation for casualties the automatons held. He’d heard plenty about it from his people at the stone-camp, and even from Weiss and Ruby on occasion. “A mild alteration to our plans, less inclined towards infiltration and more towards assault, but I don’t mind.”

“I’m used to assaulting their positions in any event.” Winter added from just behind him, a hand resting on her saber comfortably. 

“Like I said, lead the way, Ilia.” He ordered, “We’ll deal with them when we get there, call on my army and our allies, and move from there before they can react.”

And it was about damn time, too. 

XxX----XxX----XxX

Razmire :

Oz’ priorities are as follows. 1, screw over WHATEVER Salem wants. 2, whatever else. Qrow falls into the second, the Fang into the first, and he acts in accordance. 

Dragon Lord Syed :

She was asking for mercy, had young people around Ruby’s age asking for it, and essentially offering whatever Jaune could want in exchange for her life. AS WELL AS people more directly involved with the issues to hand, on a silver platter, all for him.

Even if his revenge boner wasn’t titillated by finally getting everyone’s heads on a platter, you have to ask if he believed Ruby would be okay with him laughing at a bunch of desperate young adults and working with Salem JUST to get to off Cinder.

Jaws on You :

The next story set in this line - THIS one is actually wrapping up soonish - will get more into building a little mini-nation of sorts, and other things, around the Tower.

Akuma-Heika :

It’s ambiguous on purpose. How long, for instance, would it have taken to secure the land Vale now rests on? To fortify it? One Overlord did that before his death. Or was it a lineage of Overlords? I didn’t specify on purpose, to add some mystery to it all.

No One Important Here :

Yes. EVERYONE is Rensexual. Much to Nora’s chagrin.

Dr. Killinger :

Believe it or not, I actually RPed her as a more stable Azula a bit throughout this story. So your comparison is on the money.

Reese Racer :

...Ruby has a surprise for you. *sends Ruby out, dual wielding spoons of doom*


	39. Book One, Finale - All Choked Up

XxX----XxX----XxX

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XxX----XxX----XxX

“Oi! I’m going to grab some of the rations for us. Keep watch.” Terra called, her monkey tail flicking behind her boredly as she turned to head into the cave. “And don’t fuckin’ start with the whole ‘we have to keep watch’ nonsense. This close to HB and the big lady, we aren’t a priority for anybody. No one is out there, so relax and lemme get some food.”

“Fine, fine… Lazy gods damn rookies, I tell ya.” Her stockier companion sighed, sounding as bored and lazy as she did about the whole ‘guarding’ schtick in spite of his words. 

“Oh, please, you’re as lazy about this as I am. I didn’t sign up to guard some ass backwards cave a mile out from base…” She groaned, the sound carrying to her sensitive ears even through the birdsong overhead. 

“Suck it up.” Two large boulders had, years ago, been shifted to obfuscate most of the entrance and hide the camp inside, and the man leaned back on one of those comfortably. “Bring me back some of the pork stock, then. If any is left, I mean. Dust knows no one pays us any attention out here...”

‘Fair enough.’ Ilia mused quietly, crouched low in front of a tree across the few feet of bare earth outside the cave’s entrance. Skin colored a mix of spottles greens, browns and berry blues to match the bush she was in, she watched the duo carefully. ‘Sucks to be you… No idea what you’re guarding.’

Even the people who had stationed them there didn’t know what they were guarding though, to be fair. How could they? Even if the room wasn’t sealed off and even if they’d ever cared enough to tunnel through the rock and wall there to get at it, they’d have never guessed the purpose for the room. On all fours, she slinked back and away, hiding behind the tree before she rose higher and crawled off into the woods like an ape.

She didn’t go far, before she stood and took a breath, drawing her whip from behind her back and flicking it out into blade form. With it, she sett to cutting herself. Shallow wounds placed where they wouldn’t hinder her, but would bleed alot, all along her arms, her exposed thighs, and one along the side of her head.

It was an exercise of will, and going against everything you’d been taught, to force your Aura down when a blade came near but she did it regardless with a pinched expression and a hiss of pain. With her hands and fingers, she poked at the wounds and pressed them, increasing the bleeding and running her fingers from the cuts and down to make it look like she’d been cut an hour past.

And so, a few minutes later, she staggered into the small clearing around the cave entrance and collapsed theatrically, crying out, “H-Help! Please…”

Four Faunus, one woman and three men and all in varying sizes, came rushing out of the cave with rifles in their hands. The three men moved past her and to the tree line, watching the way she’d come carefully for anything out of the ordinary, and the woman knelt in front of her. Most lacked their masks, surprised by her sudden appearance and undisciplined, and to her relief she didn’t recognize any of them.

Which was good, since she doubted she could do what she planned if she had.

“Who-”

“M-My name is Ilia.” She grunted, accepting an offered skin of water theatrically and taking a long drink of it. Handing it back, she went on, explaining in as panicked a voice as she could muster, “My patrol was hit by Grimm, a few miles… North, I think. Everyone was wiped out, I didn’t know what to do so I-I ran.”

“You don’t know for sure?” The woman asked, grabbing an arm and then holding her hands up in surrender when she yanked away from her. Too afraid, at least the woman would assume, to be touched right now. “I’m sorry, I just want to check your wounds, Ilia. You’re bleeding a lot…”

“I-I can deal with them on my own.” She argued hotly, pointing roughly the way she’d come, finger waving towards the Fang base as well, “The Grimm were headed that way, though! Y-You have to go and stop them, before they get to base.”

“Wait, you know where the base is but not which way you-”

She was moving before the man could finish his question and turn to her, her whip lashing out and snaring around his throat. Serrated blades ripped it open in the same moment as she rose, her knee landing in the woman’s throat and sending her sprawling in the soft dirt and choking. The faster of the two men turned and raised her rifle at her but the whip crackled as it lashed out, punching through his throat and flicking to the side to cut through his partner’s as well. The man dodged back, clutching at a shallow cut, and lost his rifle as he fell. The second crack of her bladed whip cut through fingers and the throat behind it, and she sighed as the world went quiet.

“I’m sorry for this, but I have a job to do.” She murmured for the choking woman, collapsing the weapon into its needle-like form and punching it down towards the cleft between her breasts. Her hands came between the weapon and its target, but she simply pierced through them and into her heart regardless. 

Not for the first time, she stepped over the still warm bodies and towards the cave entrance. Inside, it was rather barren, with a fire to the side of the entryway, shelves along one side of the smooth wall inside, and two stacked cots like bunk beds against the flat wall at the back. In the center of that wall, between the two beds, was a small hole the size of her thumb that she remembered looking through months or years ago. Whip crackling, she stepped towards it and lashed out, the tip piercing the stone around easily enough between the two beds so she could peer through more easily than before.

Inside, a wide and tall room with iron braziers circling it rested, empty and mostly pristine. Emphasis on the mostly, of course, given the rocks piled atop the flat stone. Probably fallen from the roof above, some of them rounded and natural and others with flat faces that spoke of the shrine that had been built before. 

Stealing the blankets off the beds she stepped outside and moved the bodies to the side of the cave and then covered them. Finally, she sat down and dug through the crates of supplies around the beds until she found bandages to start cleaning herself up and, while she did that, dialed a number on her Scroll.

“Overlord,” She murmured, “I cleared the cave out. It’s safe to approach.”

XxX----XxX----XxX

“W-Where is everyone else?” Ilia asked when he arrived alone, the woman sitting on top of one of the two boulders that flanked the cave’s entrance. 

“Forming a perimeter around the Portal-Shrine while you and I excavate it and I summon my army.” He answered simply, waving for her to follow him and eyeing the pink lines along her arms and legs. Wounds recently closed by Aura, he could tell. And in places, she sported bandages still, some wrapped around her upper arm and a pasted-bandage on the side of her head. “What happened to you? Did they put up that good a fight?”

“What?”

“You have bandages on, so I’m assuming that they fought back well enough to hurt you.” He answered simply, gesturing with the head of his axe at her head and the little sticky-bandage there. She flinched, of course, watching the blade hover close before he pulled it back and away and stepped by her and into the cave. She followed him in and he grunted a simple “Are you alright?”

“I-I’m fine, yeah.” She nodded, bouncing around him to drag the beds away from the back wall and pointing at it. “Break this open, and the ruins I talked about will be back there. I already looked, and saw the stone and braziers.”

“Next time you go into a fight, be more careful. And if a fight is too risky for you, call me and let me fight it for you.” He grunted, laying his axe on the top bunk of one of the beds and sliding it further away. Steel scraped on stone for a moment as he moved it, setting it next to the embered fire and thanking Evil for the Darksight enchantment Gnarl had put on his helmet. 

“B-But it wasn’t that bad.” Even as dark as it was, he could still see. And so when the girl flushed for fear and shrank under his gaze, he could see it as plain as day. “I did this. The cuts, I mean. There wasn’t a real fight. Not really.”

“You cut yourself?”

“Mhm. Old Fang trick, goes all the way back to the Revolution way back when.” The girl seemed to relax as she spoke. Like talking about the old past relaxed her, or maybe just distracted her. A history fan, he supposed gently and quietly. “You cut yourself up a bit, all superficial ones that’ll bleed bad enough to look really bad, and ask for help. The soldiers drop their guard, and you… Do your job.”

“Kill them you mean.”

“Yeah…”

“Good work, Ilia.” He praised, hesitating a moment at the sad look that flitted across her face, scales tinting an obvious blue color. Something was dragging her mood down, and he had a guess as to the four reasons why. And while he wanted to just move on, he knew better than to take someone distracted into a fight. “Ilia, you did well. And you did what you had to do for a better endpoint. Don’t let it drag you down.”

“All she wanted was to help me, and I stabbed her for it.” Ilia countered, looking up at him and grimacing, her brow furrowed and head hanging low. “What kind of better endpoint comes from that?”

“One Blake wants, I would say, judging from the fact she’s joining us in dealing with all of this. And she knows what joining me means.” She flinched at the low blow, and he knew it was one when he said it. But it had the desired effect, the hopelessly smitten girl nodding gently at the words. 

How Blake inspired this kind of loyalty, he couldn’t help but wonder… Probably the so-called Bellabooty, as he’d heard from Ruby that Yang liked to call it. He could see why people would like it, even as committed to Ruby as he was. Committed didn’t mean blind, as his dad had said once upon a time, just before his mom had smacked him upside the head with a spatula.

Women and kitchenware based assaults seemed to run in his family…

“We’re almost done with this, Ilia.” He finally said after a long and tense quiet moment between the two. “One last big push, one more scrap, and the White Fang will be dealt with. What’s left will be handed to you and Blake, if we keep any of it, and I can help build something better from the ashes.”

“I know…”

“Then help me get justice for what was done, so we can all go home.” He asked, trying his hardest to motivate her without using fear for it. 

They were finally out of that place, and Ruby would kill him if he put Ilia back into the state she’d been in before, if only because Blake would be angry. Or, well, she’d not kill him per se… But she’d pout something fierce, and that wasn’t something he knew how to really handle all that well.

“I know, I just… I don’t know. Let’s just get this over with already.” She sighed, then, and he saw what Blake probably did for the briefest of moments, from the way her face fell and her eyes dimmed. 

Someone kind and gentle, forced into something she had no business being involved in. And he was shocked by how instinctive it was to want to protect that, somehow. It wasn’t going to stop him sending her into a fight, of course, but… There was the itch nonetheless, albeit one he knew he wouldn’t get to scratch.

“I break the stone, you push it to the sides of the cave for me. Pile it up, or whatever, I just need it opened up enough for my Minions and spider-riders to come through.” He finally ordered, when he had nothing else he could think to say in answer. 

She nodded and he turned, stepping into a heavy glow from his Gauntlet that cracked the ancient stone easily. He brought it back and slammed the hardened tips forward again, piercing the stone easily and then using a Mana Burst to shatter a large section of it free. Ilia caught the piece surprisingly easily given it was nearly as wide as she was, though it was only half as thick, and turned to haul it away. 

On and on, the work went, in relative silence aside from steel striking stone.

It didn’t take long before they broke through and into the Portal room itself, pushing the piles of broken stone to either side of the cave and ignoring the equipment in the way. Inside, they did similar to the rock and dirt on the Portal-Stone, cracking what they couldn’t move with magic and piling it up beside the braziers. Then they gathered up some of the wood the Fang had kept for their fire and used it to light the braziers closest to the exit, and Jaune stood atop the Portal-Stone. 

“And now,” he smiled, raising his Gauntlet, “to summon an army, and get to the fun part of today.” At his words, the Portal-Stone flared to life and, to Ilia, he said, “Tell everyone to convene here at the cave. We’ll move out as soon as enough of my army is through and-”

“About that, M’lord.” Gnarl’s voice spoke as he emerged from the crackling power, half a dozen Guard-Minions flanking to either side of him. “The old twat himself said he got a message out from Irondick. Apparently, they’re already caught out and in a fight. So the sneaky stabby poke part of your little get-together is… A bit past, unfortunately.”

“Patrols, probably.” Ilia said quietly, her own hand hovering over her whip. “They’ll need help, or more will be on them.”

“We stay with Gnarl and bring my forces through.” He ordered with a low growl, plucking his axe from the bed as he stormed towards the cave’s exit. Ilia made to argue and he simply held a hand up, adding, “Go out there, and collect our people, Ilia. Get back here as fast as you can, we’re moving on as soon as I have the numbers.”

The first shots of the battle had been fired, it seemed.

XxX----XxX----XxX

“It was nothing more than a few patrolling units. Trios, mostly, from what I understand.” Ironwood explained half and hour later, when their teams had all gathered outside the cave. “We handled it easily.”

“Good.” A spider, laden with hanging metal plates and Minions clutching their spines, pushed out of the cave and kicked one of the overgrown boulders to the side as it did. “I figured you’d all be fine, really.”

“I appreciate your confidence…” Ironwood watched it with a grimace and added, “Your… Army is getting ready for the attack, and I was just about to order the students to scatter into the woods and take up a perimeter. But I felt you would want to be asked, first.”

“Why?”

“It’s your attack, and for the most part, your forces.” The man answered simply, standing with him by a tree several yards from the cave, the two of them watching his Minions impatiently. Across from them, the Humans and Faunus of their group stood in an anxious cluster, waiting on their word and chatting amongst themselves, and Ironwood spoke, “Give the order, Overlord. We have a job to do.”

“Can I ask you a question, General?” The man hummed his surprise and gave him a look, but nodded after a moment regardless. Ruby spotted him looking her way and waved excitedly, bouncing up and down and grinning ear to ear, and he returned the gesture with a smaller wave. Neo, standing behind the little Rose with Roman beside her, saw the gesture and grinned, signing something for Roman to translate that had Ruby spluttering and red.

A wonderful demonstration of what was making him nervous... “Is it normal to be nervous like this? I’ve been in plenty of fights, but I’m… Nervous.”

“Ah, that kind of nervousness. I see the problem here then, Jaune.” The older man snorted and shook his head wryly, crossing his arms over his chest and sighing. “Normally, I would get into it more. But right now, we have a battle to get underway, and every moment we spend waiting is just giving them time.”

“That’s why I asked while my Minions were gathering in mass.” He pointed out, gesturing at the near a hundred of the lightly armored creatures milling about in the clearing, and their half-dozen giant spiders as well. 

“Yes, but the preparations include our Hunter-trainees getting into place to guard our rear, and our Hunters securing the area between to keep Fang patrols hitting either line’s back. Which you’re delaying.” He could only grimace at that and Ironwood nodded with a small, pleased smile on his face. Taking the silence for an opportunity, the general answered simply, “Being afraid to lose your people is natural. Particularly when you’re involved with them, which is why militaries tend to frown on that.”

“But...?”

“But you have to do what you have to do regardless of that fear. And the best recourse to protect people you put in harm’s way is to plan thoroughly, and act on it confidently.” The general answered simply. “You’ve done the planning, so act. And trust the people under you to stand on their own two feet.”

“That easy, huh?”

“Not on your life, Overlord.” The general smiled bitterly and shrugged, though, and added. “But it’s how being in command works, sad to say. So strap on your boots and go fuck the Beowolf.”

“... Run that by me again?”

“Old military saying, that’s all.” He shrugged noncommittally, waving a hand towards the Minions and warriors both, “Just means to step up and do your job, even if it scares the snow off your shoulders.”

“I hate that you explained a saying with another saying…” Jaune sighed, but he pushed off the tree regardless and bellowed to his Minions, “Greens! I want you headed to the Fang base. Infiltrate it, hide, and wait until the attack starts. Once it does, cut down anyone isolated or any groups small enough, and undermine their defences. Iilia, show them the way and the pull back.”

“For the Overlord!” The dozens of Green creatures crowed, wielding forged iron daggers, claws and dressed in dark, splotchy leather clothing. Ilia said something as well, of course, but it was drowned out in the cheer of the assembled infiltrators and then the creatures were gone with her, headed into the forest.

“Juniper, Ruby, you guys get moving and spread out through the forest. Keep the Grimm back and away from us. Qrow is in charge out there.” He ordered, the man grimacing but nodding as the seven children turned to leave with the older man in tow. “Browns and Spider-Riders, you’re going to be assaulting the front of the base in mass. Ironwood and Winter Schnee will issue you your formations and orders, so follow them.”

“Tai, Roman and Neo you’re with them too.” The trio looked mildly chagrined to be put together, exchanging wary - or, well, excited and blood thirsty in Neo’s case but she was the exception - between each other. “Ironwood, I trust you to handle the specifics. If you don’t mind?”

“I don’t. Winter and I will join in that part of the assault as well, once the enemy is… Softened up sufficiently.” The man answered, surprised for a moment to be so blatantly handed power but seeming to roll with it regardless. “I recommend you and Ozpin come in behind us. We’ll direct you to the command room, or whatever they have similar, and let you strike down their leader.”

“Good idea as far as I’m concerned.” It would cement him as the winner here in a very spectacular, vindictive and blatant way. All words he loved being used to describe whatever he did, really. It also meant his relatively squishy self and Ozpin, who was valuable in a different way, would be mostly at the rear and safe. “You hear the tin man. Move out, Minions! Your Overlord commands you!”

Spiders hissed, Minions crowed and, within moments, the assembled Huntsman were moving. All his ‘I’s dotted, all his ‘T’s crossed, and his axe sharpened enough to cleave through stone - He’d tried it! For science! - and he was marching on the enemy’s gate at gloriously evil last.

XxX----XxX----XxX

“That the place! Can smell scent and track Green brothers already inside. They hide, yes-yes, and we attack do they can sneak-stab!” One of the squat, nearly innumerable and shoddily armed and armored Browns reported when he asked. 

“You’re sure about that?” Tai asked, sitting across a think creek and behind a small hill’s crest trees had long grown along. 

Across a small open expanse, with a thin creek bubbling weakly between them and the trees a few yards away, a mountain climbed into the sky. One of a range that expanded to either side and, he knew from his studies, would eventually connect with other ranges and form the mountains Mistral used as natural barriers to the Grimm. And directly across from them, completely unmarked like he’d been told it would be, was a cave entrance about big enough for a car to get in.

But nothing else existed to tell it apart…

“Are you sure?” He asked cautiously, turning to see the Minion and, kneeling behind it, an impatient Winter Schnee, kneeling in the soft mud with her wrist resting on her knee and her saber hanging from it comfortably. “You’ve deal with the Fang before, Winter. What do you think?”

“It’s the kind of setup they’d look for, and they tracked their scent. Ilia, I think her name was?” The soldier turned to him, waiting for a response, and he nodded to it so she continued in her same quiet, bored voice. “Right then. Ilia led the green creatures here, and the little creature with you said that it followed their scent here.”

The blonde just shrugged and rose, standing tall and proud in spite of the warning Winter hissed at his back. When he stepped into the clearing, the hissed warning turned to hisse dinsults and comparisons to Qrow, but he ignored her as he moved towards the entrance. Stepping through he flinched as a saber slammed into his chest and sparked off his Aura, acting on instinctive impulse and lashing out in a devastating blow that shattered the waif of a woman’s mask and sent her reeling back the way she’d come. 

“They’re in here!” He called cheerily as another duo, these two men armed with the same red swords and wearing White Fang regalia produly, moved towards him. Beneath him the woman groaned and tried to roll over and rise, but a kick that sent her slamming into the wall sent her into unconsciousness as the man fell into an easy boxing stance and smile. “Heads up, boys, but I’m a Hunter.”

“A Human is a Human.” The larger man, two wolf's ears flicking on his head, growled as he closed with the blonde.

The Faunus man ignore him and lunged with the curved blade, aiming the point for his throat, and Tai sighed. With his left arm, he batted aside the weapon and stepped into his guard and then slamming a punch into his sternum hard enough to crack bone and drive the man back. A hook sent the wounded man into unconsciousness, slumped against the wall, as the Minions washed into the cave like a tidal wave of brown and iron.

The other guard shrieked and backpedaled, turning to run into the cave and cry for help, but a quartet of the Minions were on him inside four steps. Clubs, shivs, claws and even teeth descended on him as he fell and the Browns washed towards the heavy brick wall and thick wooden door at the back of the wide cave. 

A guard, hearing the fighting, opened it as he reached it and Tai’s fist caught his jaw before he could react. Booting the unconscious Grunt through the door, he bobbed to the side to evade a spear charging towards him and caught the weapon under his arm. The Faunus woman, one of her antlers broken off, tried to yank it back and he only smiled. 

“Sorry, Darlin’.” He apologized, yanking to the side and hurling her against the wall hard enough to shatter her shoulder. The Minions yanked the door open then and saw her, but a boot sent her into sleep before they could swarm her too and he barked an order. “Fan out, into the base. Hunt down anyone armed and deal with them. If they aren’t armed, tie them up and leave them for Jau- The Overlord.”

He wasn’t entirely sure they understood, but at the mention of Jaune, they crowed their typical, narrow minded cheer and took off in random directions down the halls that split off from the entry door. Three hallways, one forward and two to the sides, opened up in wide, richly decorated and carpeted avenues that were brightly lit by overhead lights built into the walls. It was surprising how wide the halls were, easily able to have ten men his size walking in a row, and they were at least fifteen feet tall to boot.

“This is the headquarters, it would make sense it would be well made.” Winter remarked as she joined him, waiting only a moment for him to nod and then turning to head left into the building. “I will follow this way, and clean up behind these little creatures. Do whatever you like.”

“Don’t worry, Frosty, we will! Have fun getting friendly with the local animals, too!” Roman said, grinning as he joined the blonde, his apparently adopted daughter on his heels with a long and thin blade in her hand. 

Not to mention a maniacal grin plastered on her face as the sounds of fighting, and dying, began echoing back towards them. Tai tried his best to ignore both of those things, and instead turned away to head off to the right.

“Clear through the middle, Roman.” He waved a hand over his shoulder as he went, sighing tiredly as he reached a door and wrenched it off its hinges. Behind it, a woman had been waiting with an axe and she leapt for him, but he caught her by the wrist and snapped the bone easily. “And remember, Jaune gets the boss himself, so if you find the throne room or whatever, leave it.”

Yanking her towards him, he slammed a punch into her forehead hard enough she flipped through the air as she sailed by and clattered in a heap on the ground. A Brown, complaining all the while, fell on her with a blackjack and a rope to truss her up and drag her away as roving bands doing the same came down the hall to practically pile the prisoners up together. 

Already, dozens of them were being dragged away. But he put that out of mind as he hurled the door he’d broken off away and stepped into the little workshop. Disassembled weapons, armor, and more were arrayed over a half-dozen workbenches lining the far wall of the long room. And throughout, Minions were scrapping with Grunts armed with whatever they could find, leaping to try and tug them down or just prodding at them with short spears to corral them into corners or nooks between workbenches. 

One of the soldiers turned and leapt at him with a hammer in his hands, like a blacksmith gone mad, and Tai sighed. A boot slammed down into a stool and flipped it into the air and then he batted it towards the man. The wood shattered over his head and he went limp, clattering across the ground behind him just inside the door. 

“Anyone that doesn’t want to die, throw down your weapons and surrender!” He ordered loudly, the Minions turning to him with confused eyes while the Fang considered his words. Tiny heads turned this way and that, ears flopping and eyes blinking in confusion, and Tai groaned audibly. “You idiots… I’m talking to the Fang here! Give up and you’ll live.”

And be turned over to Atlas, he didn’t add, knowing how well that would go if he mentioned it. Most of them actually took his invitation, though several bellowed about ‘cowards’ and leapt at the Minions. Only to face a couple dozen undistracted and ready Minions, rather than the few they’d had to each of themselves, which only ever was going to go one way really. 

He waited for the rest to be hauled down and trussed up before moving out into the hallway and on to the next room, while Minions dragged the unconscious and bleeding away. Those conscious fought and spit until Tai heard a heavy wooden crunch and turned to look up at a massive spider laden with a quartet of Blues and a singular Brown controlling the beast lumbering overhead.

“Anyone that fights gets eaten by the spider!” Ironwood, waiting by the door with a grim look on his face, called out. “On the authority of Atlas, you will be promised protection from the Minions of the Overlord if you surrender. If you continue resisting, however, I can do nothing for you.”

Where Neo and Roman were, Tai couldn’t hazard a guess, but very suddenly the hissing and kicking stopped and the Faunus began to cooperate. Giant effing spiders had that effect, it seemed.

XxX----XxX----XxX

“They’ve set up a gun battery up the hall. Semi-circle made of furniture and sandbags, with three gun emplacements.” Winter explained half an hour later when Jaune arrived, the woman leaning against a wall. “Take a look if you want, but keep your head down. You’ve lost two dozen Minions rushing up these halls like lunatics already.”

“Yeah they… Tend to do that.” Around a sharp turn, the wooden walls, statues, lights and carpet had been torn up in huge chunks. Minion limbs, weapons, armor and assorted chunks decorated the floor too, as evidence of the Schnee soldier’s words, and he frowned at them. Behind him, a spider and around thirty assorted Minions loitered, waiting for a command, and he sighed. “What to do about this then… Winter?”

“My Summons get cut apart, and if I had any other ideas I would already be through.” She answered shortly, looking a it dirty but mainly frustrated. And, he dared say, kind of bored, kneeling in cover with a detached sort of expression he couldn’t place. 

“Summons?” He asked, kneeling beside her and prodding her for information. When she gave him a look, he grunted, “Explain while I think, please. I have a rough idea but... Do you have something that could get my axe behind them?”

“Why?”

“I can teleport to it.” He grunted, holding the black and silver weapon meaningfully. She gave it a look and he added, “If we get it over there, then I can-”

“I have a plan, if you don’t mind taking orders.” He shrugged simply and shook his head and she smiled in response. Then she stood and held her saber in front of her, like knights in video games who would kiss their blade before heading into battle, and she smiled grimly. “Step out into the open and throw it, then.”

“But what about the-”

“Trust me, please, and we can end this now.” He was loathe to do that so easily but he nodded and stood, turning the weapon in his hand so the head rested against the floor. At his nod that he was ready, she barked a simple, “Now.”

With a long stride, he stepped into the open and looked down the long hallway, gauging the distance for his throw on a glance like he always did. It was at least a dozen yards out and he grimaced at the range, knowing that such a distance would only really matter to his throw. Not the heavy, tri-barreled cannon a duo of heavyset Fang soldiers were manning, turning the weapon around and towards him. It began to spin and he gave Winter an anxious look, the woman’s eyes closed and face set in a mask of strained effort that would have been comical in any other situation.

Sadly, a heavy machine gun whirring to life with a line drawn somewhere on his chest was a bit of a mood killer.

He saw a flash of light as the heavy gun opened fire and flinched, but the rounds were ripped up into the air suddenly only a few feet from the gun. Riflemen opened fire, some aiming up at the swirling black glyph and ripping chunks out of it while more fired towards him. The rounds from the latter were ripped up alongside the heavy gun’s shots and he gave the woman a surprised look. 

“Throw it.” She ordered loudly, sweat beading on her forehead and eyes pinching shut from the effort to focus. 

“Got it.” And he’d be making a note of this ability and asking Weiss about it later, definitely. Having her able to do such things opened up a world of ideas for him, but for now he turned his focus to the matters to hand.

Lumbering forward, he cocked arm back and bellowed over the din, “Minions, forward!”

The creatures charged on his command, and the spider with them, its massive legs lumbering as it lifte dover him and moved forward. The glowing black glyph flickered weakly for a half-second, only long enough for a few bursts of rifle fire and a couple dozen machinegun rounds to get by but more than enough to show him why she hadn’t tried this before. Just that momentary lapse had rounds ripping into his Minions, sending an entire row sprawling dead or wounded. 

A second’s lapse, and ten of his soldiers were dead or dying.

Taking aim, he hurled the axe so hard he felt his shoulder twang in pain at the effort, and nearly fell from off-balancing himself so greatly. The weapon sailed high through the air towards the ornate door behind the stacked chairs, tables and assorted detritus they’d assembled. But as he’d known when he did it, the magically enchanted weapon only crossed two thirds of the distance before axe began to dip. Far ahead of the barricade, no less.

But then it shot up, pulled higher by the glyph, and he realized the gambit. The weapon punched into the barricade then and he brought his Gauntlet to his chest, the familiar addictive twang of Mana on his tongue and heady in his mind. It crackled around him and, very suddenly, the sounds of gunfire were a roar from just beside him as his fingers felt the haft of his axe in them again.

“Son of a Grimm-” His Gauntlet snapped out, wrenching the heavy gun up and then hurling it away with a Mana Burst. The blast sent the two men manning it reeling, wrent the gun into pieces, and blasted a man-sized hole in the barricade that he used to get by it. 

“Bastard!” He turned his back on the rifle-wielding man and let his cloak absorb the rounds he emptied out of his gun’s magazine and sent Mana flicking along his axe. Turning, he belched fire that burned hot enough to roast meat black and the Faunus cried out as his fine red clothes caught.

One of the gunners from the cannon he’d destroyed slammed into his side and buried a short knife in his collar, but the leather padding there kept it from doing more than bruising him. With a harsh bark of a laugh, he backhanded the Faunus hard enough that porcelain, blood and teeth flew to the side and the man staggered away. Then, without a care in the world beyond his wide smile, his axe came around in a whistle and lopped his head free. The other man from the gun-team saw the head roll and panicked, shielding himself with his hands, but his axe cleaved as easily through the thick limbs as they did his torso beyond.

“Ha! You all thought you would get away with what you did to Emilia?” He bellowed as a red-clothed, chainmail wearing guard rushed him with an ornate halberd. “This is justice for her, you animals!”

He batted the weapon aside easily with a burst of his swirling Mana-Shield and, while the Faunus was staggering by in surprise, buried his Gauntlet’s claws in the warrior’s throat. With a laugh, he ripped it free and leveled the bloodied claws at the other defenders as they turned to look at him. Beside him, from the way he’d come, the giant spider’s legs sent splintered wood flying as it and his Minions reached them and he grinned. 

“Surrender?” He offered mockingly, the Faunus roaring cheers of ‘Sienna!’ and ‘For the White Fang’ in answer as they rounded on him, abandoning their former positions for a chance at a more glorious death. “Can’t say I didn’t five you idiots a chance then.”

Fanatics… But it meant more fun for him, he supposed, grinning and ordering, “Minions, slaughter them all. No mercy.”

His Minions washed over them in a brown tide, and his spider joined them, lumbering over the flurry of Minions and skewering one of the better melee fighters who had been holding them off on one of its long, metal armored leg tips. He saw it flick the man away but didn’t stay to watch any more of the festivities, instead slamming a heavy boot up and into the ornate gate. It buckled but held and he rolled his eyes, making a spearpoint of his clawed fingers and punching through the thick wood like so much butter. 

With a muted ‘pop’ of Mana and a far louder crunch of wood and steel being torn apart, the gates shot open. 

“Hold, soldiers of the White Fang!” He heard a woman’s voice shout as he stepped into the long, high throne room. 

A semi-circle of halberd-wielding soldiers garbed in the red he’d seen on commanders earlier stood waiting for him. Unlike those, though, these had cloaks hemmed in gold and laurels hanging off their shoulders. Honor guard, he decided, looking past the unimportant peons and up at the throne itself a few yards away.

“I take it you’re the leader here?” He asked haughtily, letting the pointed end of his bloodied axe bite into the carpet and cocking his head to the side. She didn’t answer, watching him instead to see what he would do, and he snorted and sighed and sighing theatrically. Pointing a finger at himself, he grunted, “Me Overlord. Who you, Woman?”

“Do you think that I’m some under-developed animal?” She hissed, her right hand lashing out and a long ship whistling as the bladed tip soared to her side. A show of force, he could tell, but one that was as much geared towards readying herself for a fight as scaring him. “I am Sienna Khan, supreme leader of the White Fang.”

“So you are the leader!”

“Yes, and you are an Atlesian dog.” She growled, striding down the steps in long, sure strides. Theatrics, he it recognized instantly. A show she was putting on to try and unnerve him and harden the nerves of her soldiers in one fell swoop. “So what, did your masters pay you nicely to sack us? Make it look like bandits, I imagine. Or have you been their chained dog for some time, and they finally let you off the-”

“Nope!” He popped the ‘p’ sound, channeling his inner Ruby and smiling when she blinked in surprise. Putting on an air of confusion, like he was thinking it through for her only just now, he asked, “Did you assume that from the General being here helping me?”

“Well… Yes.”

“Ah, see, that’s your mistake right there.” He snapped his fingers in a ‘gotcha’ gesture and laughed, loud and mocking. The woman bristled at the tone like he’d intended, and behind him the sounds of fighting began to die and he sensed his Minions beginning to gather at the open door’s precipice. An intimidating sight, no doubt, with or without the Hunters whose presence he couldn’t sense in the same way. “You assumed that the General being here meant that, whoever was here too, they would work for him. But in reality, he’s not here because I work for him. It’s the opposite, in fact.”

“I’m here as a favor to the Overlord, not as an Atlesian military official.” The General informed them all, Jaune turning to look over his shoulder at the man standing in the doorway with his hands clasped behind his back. “You made enemies you couldn’t match up to, Sienna Khan.”

Behind him, Winter did the same, while Tai and Ozpin both loitered further back and away from the whole thing. Roman and Neo were probably elsewhere, he assumed, either hounding out the last Faunus hiding away or looting the place. He didn’t mind either way, not really at least, even if having them in the line would sail the point so much firmer.

But the trio of giant, armored spiders seemed to send the message on who precisely she had pissed off.

“Atlas is only here to take your survivors somewhere other than the cliffs out over the ocean.” Jaune laughed, the sound even harsh and mocking to his own ears. He couldn’t help it, though. 

He could see the panic and fear in the bodies of the guards, even their discipline and courage faltering in the face of a horde of monsters and giant spiders hissing and chittering at them. And it was intoxicating in the messed up way he was used to. 

So, he forced that to the side and asked brightly. “Any chance you might want to surrender? I promise, I’ll only execute Sienna herself. The rest of you will be handed over to Atlas for… Whatever they have planned for you!”

“White Fang, attack! For the Revolution!” Sienna answered, sweeping her hand forward and beckoning her men and women into the fight as he’d expected. 

The soldiers answered in kind, roaring and lunging in, and Jaune grinned. With a wave of his hand, his Minions began to surge forward and he moved ahead of them. One halberd thrust for his face and he stepped to the side, letting it clang off his off shoulder and thrusting up with the pointed tip of his own weapon. Hemmed in on both sides by his fellows and unable to step far enough back, the man cried out before the hardened tip crunched through his mask and skull and Jaune shoved him back.

Another swept her weapon down and up, but he caught that in his hand and yanked her forwards, into his guard. Releasing her weapon he punched up, and his claws ripped through her throat like a hot knife through butter. A third came in from the side and scored a hard strike across his armored flank, hard enough he grunted and staggered under the blow. 

But the Faunus never got the chance to capitalize on the mild opening. As poor as that would have gone, admittedly. Instead, a massive pike punched down into their chest and they staggered back. As their red and white clothing darkened, the pike’s head was pulled free. And a massive spider leg, capped in iron, punched down and crushed them under its weight.

To either side of him, his Minions were swarming the guards, and he spotted a mop of blonde somewhere far away in the mass. Tai, no doubt, trying to save a couple of the fanatics by getting involved himself. Jaune shrugged at the knowledge and turned when another Faunus bowled through his Minions where they were somewhat thinner, halberd held to the side to swing like a bat and the man roaring. 

Fire belched from his axe when he leveled it and the man reeled, screamed, and collapsed under his own weight. As a mercy, he made sure the fire was so hot as to burn white at the last moment, so the man’s nerves would fry and he’d pass out before he died. A small mercy, but one he offered regardless.

“So, Sienna was it?” He smiled as he passed by the collapsing line of Faunus, the woman backing away warily with an eye on his axe. Spinning the weapon in his hand, he laughed and asked, “Are you ready for this? Because I’m ready for this.”

“Are you challenging me to a duel?” He nodded simply and she barked a laugh. “And why should I entertain that instead of withdrawing to fight another day?”

“Because I would flay the survivors of your little headquarters here alive.” He shrugged simply, gesturing at the monsters behind him and, beyond, at the base at large. Full of at least a couple hundred prisoners, which he was certain she would anticipate. “And I would make it known very publicly that it was all for your cowardice.”

“Monster! I don’t mind killing you if you want it so damn badly!” She seethed, spinning on her heel and lashing out with the bladed chain. “Enjoy your duel, you demon!”

It whistled over his shoulder and he hunched low, diving in with his axe held in two hands. With a jerk and a twist of her shoulders, the chain snapped to the side and down suddenly, as though it were alive, the bladed tip tipping hard enough into his helmet he was knocked to the side. When she tanked it back, he felt his helmet tug with it and saw the tiniest pinprick of light just over his eye.

“Hardened Seer-Steel, infused with Dust.” The woman smiled, wrapping the chain around her arm and bringing her leg back. “Next to nothing can handle my chains in a straight fight. Your armor is no exception.”

“Shut up and fight.” He snapped, already forming an idea of what to do about her and her chain whip. 

She obliged him happily, swinging the bladed whip wide and around, lashing it out at him over and over again. He let it force him back, ducking and weaving side to side when she lunged in towards his face and throat, aiming for the thinner mail and leather she could no doubt spot there. Or that she just anticipated being there so he could turn his head. Whatever the reason, he was forced back, and she grinned at the fact.

Until a spider’s great leg came down and her whip wrapped around it, that was. 

“You bast- Agh!” She cried out as she was wrenched forward, the chain still wrapped around her arm betraying her now. She couldn’t release the weapon and, under the massive spider’s far greater strength, she couldn’t hold her ground either. His axe easily cut through the link when she was close enough, and his Gauntlet lashed out to grab her by the throat before she could leap away, pulling her close. “B-But, you wanted a duel! Coward!”

“Your mistake was thinking I ever wanted a straight fight. And I never really said I wanted to duel you.” He smiled behind his mask and leaned close to peer into her face, her wide eyes reflecting the yellow glow of his own. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t run. I don’t know the area, after all, so you might have escaped my… Grasp.”

“You monster- Ack!” Her words were cut off as his Gauntlet squeezed around her throat, her claws digging into his armored hand uselessly while he laughed. 

“A Huntress’ Aura can block blades, fire, even electricity to a very small extent. You can stun through the last, with enough of it... But you know what it can’t stop?” She could only gag and choke in answer, kicking at his armored chest weakly while her face reddened and her nose flared. “Easy answer, since you asked so nicely! It can’t really stop crushing pressure.”

Finally, he heard a muted, moist crack sound and her eyes widened in the sudden realization of her demise. Her hands went limp and fell away, then, and she stilled, hanging in his grip. That realization on her face now a mask, he let her droop to the floor and, for insurance, kicked her over onto her back and brought his axe across her neck.

Her head rolled away and a Minion picked it up, turning and running off with it and his spear to, he imagined, prop it up outside. Not why he’d lopped it off, but…

That was as sure a way to end all this as any. And, finally, it was all over and he could look for what to do next. 

Maybe a nice dinner date in Vale with Ruby was in order? He’d not actually gone out with her since the incident with Papa Goat had happened. And it seemed a good way to mark the changing times.

XxX----XxX----XxX

I didn’t want to dwell on the individual ‘waves’ of the attack, as it were, because then this entire ordeal would end up taking four or five chapters to get through. So, like, two months for the finale to this first overarching arc of Overlord. Sorry if that aspect seems disappointing to anyone, but didn’t want to bloat it out over two months of posting. 

Tried to make up for it in the end, though~! The fight with Sienna was fast, admittedly, but given everything it seemed out of character for Jaune to want some long, drawn out, honorable duel with her. Why would he, really? He wanted revenge, and her dead, not some honorable duel for his honor or whatever.

Hope you enjoyed it regardless~!

~ Twisted

XxX----XxX----XxX

Akuma-Heika :

I was also thinking about equipment. Like, Nora packs grenades, and Ruby has a huge scythe. The differential wouldn’t be a lot, but I mean, racers in real life will shave a few ounces off their cars at every opportunity for the tiny bit of speed.

Zen-Aku :

Yep! Fixed it.

Razmire :

I mean, yeah. Momma Yang and Papa Tai are always gonna be influential on Ruby being with him, and he’s kinda attached at this point.


End file.
